


Superman for Sale

by dm_wyatt



Category: Smallville
Genre: Futurefic, Humor, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-14
Updated: 2009-12-13
Packaged: 2017-10-04 10:14:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 80,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dm_wyatt/pseuds/dm_wyatt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark goes missing and Lex tries to figure out why.  He ends up "buying" Superman from a kidnapper, who had put him under a spell... Things don't go quite as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Live Journal, this archive was imported and there are some links that link back to the Live Journal entries, but aren't needed to read the work here.

  
  
  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
---|---  
  
_**New fic - Superman for Sale, part 1 of ?**_

Just so you folks wouldn't start thinking of me as a one trick pony, this story just popped into to my head and wouldn't leave until I wrote it down.

I hope you like it.

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary: **Clark goes missing and Lex tries to figure out why.

~:::~

"It doesn't look like he's coming, sir."

 

Lex frowned and lowered his kryptonite pulse beam weapon. It was a disappointment. He'd set everything up just right and even dropped some pretty big hints but 'Superman' failed to show, as was expected. 

 

Several of the attempts he'd made lately to capture Big Blue were complete and utter failures and part of Lex wasn't all that sorry, really. It was a game they played, Lex would set up elaborate traps and Superman would always somehow elude capture.

 

Lex turned to look back at Mercy. "What went wrong? The bait was perfect... He should have been drawn in like a fly to honey."

 

Mercy shrugged, her elegantly made up face not at all troubled. "I can look into it, sir."

 

Her nonchalance about Clark not showing annoyed him for reasons he didn't really understand. Lex snapped at her, "You do that. I want to find out why he didn't show up."

 

Mercy turned and went down the steps, leaving Lex alone on the roof top. He looked up to the sky and scowled, frustrated. 

 

~:::~

 

Lex hacked into The Daily Planet email server and checked Clark's emails. The diligent reporter hadn't checked his emails in several days.

 

Lex got into the phone company's database and checked the logs of Clark's phone calls. He hadn't made a single one for the past three days. What was more worrisome was the pattern of calls that emerged when he checked the logs from the Kent farm.

 

Mrs. Kent had made a lot of short calls to all of Clark's friends and to The Daily Planet, both Clark's and Lois' direct lines as well as Perry White's. She also made dozens of short ones to Clark's cell and home numbers.  She was probably just calling to leave messages asking Clark to call back, but increasing frequency of the calls was worrying. He decided to ask Mercy to break into Clark's apartment and check the state of—

 

No. That wouldn't do. 

 

He decided to do it himself instead. He wanted to see for himself how Clark had left his apartment and what was on his answering machine.

 

~:::~

 

Lex sat in Clark's apartment, stumped.

 

The mild mannered reporter's fridge was nearly empty and his place was a mess, both were probably not surprising with Clark's hectic schedule and his nightly patrols in the skies over Metropolis. Lex knew that was typical of Clark, but what wasn't typical was the fact that he looked like he'd just abandoned the apartment. Clark's suitcase sat at the bottom of his closet and all of his toiletries were still on the counter in the bathroom. He hadn't packed a thing so it was clear Superman wasn't on a trip.

 

His spare suits all hung in the secret compartment they were usually in.  Lex had found it on one of his many break-ins over the years. He wasn't sure where Clark got the suits from, he had never been able to discover that part of Clark's enigmatic dual identity, but there they were.

 

He'd checked Clark's answering machine and all of his messages were pretty mundane, up until about three days ago. The first call from Clark's mother was routine. She asked why he hadn't shown for dinner like he'd promised and asked him to call her back. The dozens of calls from her after that all said pretty much the same thing, she asked Clark to please call, but each call was increasingly urgent.

 

Lex shook his head as he left. Where was Clark? Why didn't even his mother know where he was?

 

~:::~

 

Lex stood in the middle of a vast wilderness area, his anger building, as he held Superman's cape in his hands. It was covered in a thick kryptonite gel.

 

"You say this was a trap?"

 

Mercy looked serious. "Yes, sir." Mercy had discovered that the last reported sighting of Superman was at an attempted bank robbery.  She explained further. "The police surrounded the bank and the men came out shooting, wounding several innocent by-standers. In retrospect, it was clearly bait and Superman took it. He fought them and the battle lasted several minutes, but they escaped unexpectedly via flight capable motorbikes. They zoomed off and Superman followed them here, where they appeared to have fought again."

 

She knelt and pointed at a scorch mark on the ground. "See the scorch mark? At the bank they fought with machine guns but once they flew off, they'd started using electromagnetic pulse rifles since bullets don't faze Superman at all. I found scorch marks like this all the way back to the bank."

 

"What happened? Why do you think it was a trap?"

 

"You know as well as I do that while pulse beams will slow Superman down, they don't really hurt him. They waited until he was here to use their kryptonite gel canon; only once he was alone and far from any help." She held up the edge of the scarlet cape in Lex's hand. "You'd have to have the gel on this analyzed to be sure, but it doesn't look concentrated enough to do any real damage. It certainly wouldn't kill him.  I think they wanted to just disable him."

 

She looked back over her shoulder at the open expanse around them. "There is gel spattered over several square miles.  They must have tried hundreds of times before he made a mistake and they finally were able to hit the cape. It's not damaged at all. I think he must have dropped it to try and escape, but it was clearly too late."  She walked over to a Superman sized indentation in the ground. There were traces of the green gel in the outline of his body. "This is where he fell before they took him away."

 

There were imprints from the flying motorbikes and dozens of footprints in the ground surrounding where Clark had lain.

 

"You think he was kidnapped."

 

"No doubt in my mind, sir." Mercy agreed. "They laid a trap and Superman was taken."

 

Lex thoughtfully fingered the golden yellow shield on the cape and looked up into the sky, angry.

 

It wasn't right someone had taken him. He was Clark's arch nemesis. If anyone should finally succeed in capturing Superman, it should have been him.

 

He didn't like losing to some two bit hoods with rocket powered motorbikes.

 

~:::~

 

Lex worked in his office, trying to forestall another hit to Lexcorp's stock. He had some negative numbers that he was trying to hide in the company's balance sheets, all mostly due to Clark's interfering with Lexcorp R&amp;D projects.

 

So what if human experimentation was unethical?

 

"Superman" didn't have the right to destroy hundreds of millions of dollars of expensive lab buildings to show the world how bad a person Lex really was. Although, Lex had to admit he did like watching him do it. Clark destroying things was surprisingly erotic.

 

Lex looked at the now clean cape draped over the back of a chair that sat across from his desk. He frowned.

 

It had been nearly a week since Clark had been last seen chasing the men who had ended up kidnapping him. Lex could find no information that indicated who would have taken him or why, and he had turned over every single rock he could think of, and several that hadn't occurred to him before now, trying to find out just where Clark had been taken.

 

It was a mystery that Lex would solve.

 

He wanted the head of whoever it was that had kidnapped his greatest enemy. Superman was his plaything and Lex had never really learned to share, so it irked him no end that someone else had managed to take Clark away when he had always failed.

 

He really thought his latest kryptonite powered electromagnetic pulse beam rifle would have worked. Too bad he never had a chance to try it out before someone else got to Superman first.

 

Well, so what if he hadn't really been all that disappointed that Clark always got away. Superman was still his demon to fight. 

 

His phone buzzed and the intercom clicked on.

 

Mercy spoke. "You have an urgent call, sir."

 

Lex sighed and got up. "I told you that I didn't want to be disturbed, Mercy." 

 

He walked over to the cape and felt its silky texture. It was so soft and yet Lex knew how indestructible it was. He should know. His scientists hadn't been able to even take a sample of the fabric. The secret of its composition could make his apparel firms billions; the military applications alone would be highly lucrative.

 

The financial gain from that would more than make up for all the money he'd lost to Clark's holier-than-thou crusade against him. However, he'd never be able to copy the fabric if they couldn't get a sample. He thought of maybe trying a kryptonite based laser. That might work if the secret of the fabric's manufacture was based on technology from Clark's home world...

 

Mercy interrupted Lex's reverie. "I think you might want to take this call, sir."

 

"Why?"

 

"The woman says she has something for sale you will want to buy."

 

Lex was confused. "Like what?"

 

"She didn't say, just that what she had for sale was something that you'd lost."

 

"Did she at least give you her name?"

 

"No. Do you want me to just get rid of her?"

 

Lex was about to reply when he looked at the golden shield on the cape under his fingers, the sign of the House of El. Everyone knew now the 'S' didn't really stand for Superman although that stupid Lane women had thought so, or maybe even still did... He looked at the phone, perhaps she was connected to Clark's disappearance. Maybe he'd finally find out who had taken his enemy without his permission.

 

He took a deep breath. "No. Put her through."

 

Mercy cleared her throat. "She called in on the video conference line, that's how she bypassed the switchboard. You'll have to..."

 

Lex snapped. "Fine, but give me a minute."

 

He grabbed the cape and walked back over to his desk and tried to compose himself. 

 

He initialized a video conference and waited for Mercy to patch the caller to it. He tried hard to appear calm, he didn't want to appear too eager to talk to this bitch. He said as coldly as he could muster, "Yes?"

 

Her voice was throaty, an old woman's voice, totally at odds with how she looked. Lex had to admit she looked very good. The video quality wasn't all that great, but she was obviously a beautiful woman.

 

"Mr. Luthor, I'm so pleased you took my call." As she talked, she seemed to be petting something out of the camera's view since her arm moved rhythmically back and forth.

 

"I'm a busy man. Let's get to it. What is it that you want to sell me?"

 

"Just something that you've lost and I've found."

 

"Something you stole, you mean. There is only one thing that I'm missing that I want back. Is it something that wears a lot of primary colors? Is that what you're talking about?"

 

She smiled. "I'll show you exactly what I'm talking about." The woman nodded to someone off camera and the camera started to zoom out slowly. As the field of view widened, Lex could see that she had her fingers on something dark.

 

The camera zoomed back more and what he could see made his heart stop. She was seated on a large chair, almost like a throne, and Superman knelt at her feet, his head leaning against her knee. He wore his suit without the cape and her fingers stroked his head the way someone would stroke a beloved pet.

 

Superman's pose might have seemed affectionate except for the fact that he was obviously in some pain. There was no telltale green glow but Clark's muscles were tense, his face strained, and his breathing hitched. He wasn't restrained at all either. Yet, Superman still knelt there quietly and didn't look at the camera as her fingers continued to gently caress his dark curls.

 

She smiled more broadly at Lex's building anger. "I was right that you might want to buy this.  Is this valuable to you?"

 

Lex tried to sound casual. "He's a royal pain in my ass. He has cost me a fortune this fiscal year alone, so you've actually done me a favor. I'm glad that the alien is finally out of the skies, but why would I want to pay you for him? As far as I'm concerned, you can keep him."

 

She smiled. Clark looked at her when she held up a large, beautifully lettered sign that read 'Superman for Sale'.

 

"If you don't want to buy him, I'm sure I could find someone else who would. I might even put him up on eBay." She sat forward, looking more intently into the camera. "His new owners might want to cause you even more problems than he has. You have even more enemies than he does." She dropped the sign and reached into her pocket. Clark visibly flinched when he saw what she had in her hand but said nothing.

Lex was intrigued by that reaction. It didn't look dangerous; it just looked like a small gray stone. It was oval in shape and glinted in a strange way.

 

She held up the stone. "I'm not sure anyone else would find this as valuable as you would."

 

Clark frowned and his eyes flicked over at the camera and then back to the stone in the woman's hand. Lex was definitely intrigued. "What is that?"

 

"It's just a way to control the uncontrollable." She leaned over and whispered into Clark's ear. "Kiss my feet, my pet." Clark hesitated and she gently rubbed the stone with her fingers. Her gentle caress of the small stone had an instantaneous effect on Superman. 

 

The man was in agony, even though she hadn't touched him aside from her fingers still in his hair. Lex leaned forward to get a better look as the woman spoke softly. "My pet, why do you make it so hard on yourself?  You know that doing as I bid is the only way to avoid the pain. Don't you?"

 

Clark growled his response through clenched teeth, "Yes... mistress." 

 

She again stroked the stone softly and it was like a knife had been jabbed into Clark's stomach. He cried out and fell forward onto the floor, his hands wrapped across his abdomen. His chest heaved and his body shook with the pain. 

 

"You know to make the pain stop, my pet, you have to do as I've commanded. I don't understand why you hesitate..."  Clark looked back at the camera and she followed his gaze. "Oh, I see... you don't want your greatest enemy to see you serve another; to be humiliated in front of him." She touched the stone again and Clark gasped with an apparent increase in pain. "However, I need a demonstration of my power over you, my pet. Do it, or the pain will just continue to get worse."

 

Clark whispered a pained "Yes, mistress." Trembling with the effort, Clark managed to get up on all fours and he pressed his lips against her dainty foot. As soon as he did, the pain must have stopped because his chest heaved with apparent relief. 

 

She spoke again, "Kneel at my feet as you had been doing, my pet." This time Clark didn't need to be told twice. He pushed up and knelt at her feet, again placing his head against her knee. He briefly looked in shame at the camera before he turned his face away, his eyes hidden by a dark fall of curls.

 

The woman looked at the camera, smug. "I think having Superman willingly at your beck and call would be something a man of your tastes would pay a lot of money for. Am I right?"

 

Lex sat back and looked at the woman's cold eyes.  She was right. "How much?"

 

"That will be something I want to negotiate with you in person about."

 

Lex felt sure that the sum was going to be a very big one, but to own Clark finally after all his failed attempts it just might be worth it. "Just tell me when and where, but be sure to bring him with you."

 

Part 1 of 15 or so.... [Continued here...  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html)

[](http://www.statcounter.com/)   
 

 


	2. Superman for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from Clark's POV and starts soon after Clark originally disappeared and takes us up through Lex's conference call with Clark's captor that ended the previous update.

  
  
  
**Entry tags:** |   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
---|---  
  
_**Superman For Sale, Part 2**_  
Sorry, this took so long. Had sorta painted myself into a corner literarily and getting myself out of that took longer than I had thought it would.

Let me know what ya think...

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary: **This is from Clark's POV and starts soon after Clark originally disappeared and takes us up through Lex's conference call with Clark's captor that ended the previous update.

(Find Part 1 [**HERE**](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html)).

2 of about 15...

 

~6 days earlier~

 

 

Clark woke with a huge headache. He didn't often have headaches and this one was a whopper. It felt like his whole head was throbbing, keeping time with his heart beat. The light was dim and he couldn't understand where he was at first. 

 

It was then he remembered the bank robbery...

 

Or rather, he remembered the _staged_ bank robbery.

 

He had finally realized that the money hadn't been the real goal way too late. 

 

Once the men he'd been chasing had him where they wanted him, they pulled the lead covers off of their kryptonite gel canons and surrounded him in the air. Thanks to the pain and weakness the exposure to kryptonite caused, he had nearly fallen from the air right then and there, so he had been lucky to have missed getting shot by their gel canons for as long as he did.

 

With his flight ability nearly gone, he had desperately tried to get far enough away from the kryptonite to escape the effects it had on him.  He would gain some ground, recovering partly, only to be surrounded again. Their bikes were just too fast and maneuverable and, even though they kept missing, they shot too much kryptonite through the air near him.

 

The sky seemed full of the gel at times and it was only chance that allowed Clark to dodge the squirts of sticky stuff. However, his luck had finally run out when one of them had managed to hit his cape... The gel stuck, despite the cape's almost magically stain resistant fabric. 

 

He gasped with the pain and nearly fell from the effects of the kryptonite but managed to stay aloft, if only barely. He reached into his suit and managed to unhook the cape and drop it before his ability to fly totally left him. However, as the cape fluttered free of his body some of the gel had rubbed off onto his legs.

 

It felt like acid, it burned so badly, and he could barely fly. Despite a real loss of speed and height, Clark had somehow managed to continue to dodge the jets of liquid pain, but he felt it was only a matter of time before they succeeded.  He had avoided several more arcing ropes of gel shot from the canons, but one of the men managed to hit Clark in the back with a squirt of the neon green goo.

 

In agony and barely conscious, Clark fell. It seemed to take forever to fall the several hundred feet to the ground. He landed hard, but barely registered the shock on his body. Woozy from the concussion and in pain, his vision narrowed and dimmed, he could only moan and look on as the rocket powered cycles landed all around him.

 

He had been dazed enough that he'd had trouble concentrating on what was going on, but he'd been aware enough to be alarmed when one of the men dismounted and pulled his gel canon from his bike. He could barely move, but Clark managed to roll over. He didn't know what these men wanted with him but he didn't want to wait around to find out, he had to try to get away. The man gave Clark a smug look as he easily pushed him over onto his back with his booted foot.

 

"No, you don't. Superman... the bounty on your head is going to make us all very rich men." Clark could do nothing as the man smiled, lifted the weapon and pointed it at Clark. 

 

When the gel hit Clark square in the chest, the agony pushed him into oblivion.

 

Clark sighed at the memory...

 

He lay in a large bed next to a large open window. A soft, warm breeze made the curtains billow gracefully into the large room.

 

Clark raised his eyebrows in surprise when he looked around the room. He was actually not restrained at all. Clark pushed the covers off, surprised he wore only pajama bottoms, and sat up. He realized that someone had bathed him and washed his hair since he had to brush a very Clark-like stray curl out his eyes. He took stock of his physical condition and frowned.

 

He felt... weird.

 

Clark wasn't sure he could really describe it, it was almost like he had bugs crawling all over his body, but there wasn't anything there.  He focused and x-rayed himself. There was nothing touching his skin aside from the pajama bottoms and the bed he sat on. 

 

The sensation didn't really hurt but it was bothersome.  He rubbed at his skin in an attempt to alleviate the irritating feeling, but it was like an itch that he couldn't scratch. Clark couldn't understand what was going on because there was no apparent source for it. Clearly, kryptonite wasn't a factor since there was no pain and he didn't feel weak and nauseous. Unable to do a thing to stop the prickling sensation, he decided to ignore it and turned his attention back to the room he was in. Being totally unrestrained perplexed him.

 

He'd been kidnapped yet they put him in a room that was surprisingly free of kryptonite and he lay in a bed next to an open window. It would be so easy to just fly away. Confused by that, he just shrugged and focused. He wanted to see if he could find his suit before he left. Even though it would be missing the cape, the suit was a big enough hassle to make he didn't want to lose one if he could avoid it.

 

The house was a big one, a mansion really, and the rooms around him were filled with costly things.  He rubbed his skin, trying to absent-mindedly relieve the prickly sensation he was feeling, as he visually searched the house.

 

Two women were walking up the stairs toward the room he was in. One carried his uniform in her hand, the other carried his boots, and they held each other's free hands. The men who had captured him were just leaving the building and one of them carried a large briefcase. He checked. It was filled with money.

 

It must be the payoff for bringing him to her.

 

Clark's anger built up and he wanted to find some answers about why she'd brought him here, why she was paying out lots of cash for him.  She was coming up, no doubt, to tell him her plans and why she went to so much trouble and expense to have him captured.

 

He sighed.  Clark really hated it when the bad guys 'monologued' him. 

 

It was so... trite, but he decided to wait to see what she had to say anyway. 

 

He stood facing the expensive solid mahogany door and put on a very Supermanly scowl. The biggest thing that ruined the look was his un-gelled hair getting into his eyes. Annoyed by the absence of Superman's trademark coiffure, Clark again brushed a stray curl out of his eyes and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

 

The two women hugged and kissed in a very intimate fashion. Clark arched his eyebrow, surprised by that. The women stepped into the room. The one holding his uniform came in first with the other woman right behind her. The first woman smiled when she saw him standing there.

 

"Did you sleep well, my pet?" She stopped just inside the door and gently held the suit in front of her.

 

Clark arched an eyebrow. "My _Pet_? I am not your _pet_, besides I don't think I was so much asleep as unconscious." He scowled at her. "Who are you?"

 

"You can call me 'Mistress'."

 

Clark almost snorted, that was so over the top, but managed to keep his derision to again arching an eyebrow. "Okay, _Mistress_... can you tell me why you had me kidnapped and brought here?"

 

"You are here to serve me, my pet. That is all that need concern you."

 

Clark was skeptical. "You didn't go to the trouble of capturing me just to make me your house boy." He looked significantly at the second woman, who shrank under his gaze. "I don't appear to be your type, so you must want something more."

 

"From you? I want nothing except obedience, my pet. From Lex Luthor, I will want a great deal." She held up the stone and caressed it softly with her thumb. The prickling sensation across Clark's skin became stronger; almost painful. "And I expect he will gladly pay any price I set to get hold of this stone."

 

Clark didn't know what the rock had to do with anything, or why it seemed to make the strange sensations on his skin feel worse, but he knew Lex wouldn't pay to free him. It was absolutely ridiculous for her to even think that. "Le..." His voice cracked and he was glad. He had been about to call Lex 'Lex'...  He wouldn't want her to realize that he actually had been friends with Lex once, even though they'd since become enemies.

 

Clark cleared his throat and dropped his voice down into a more Supermanly tone. "_Luthor_ would never ransom me. He's probably glad you've taken me out of his way."

 

She smiled. "Oh, but I won't ask him for ransom. I'm selling you to him."

 

Clark blinked.

 

"Selling me?"

 

She smiled up at Clark. "Yes, I imagine he would pay almost anything to have you under his control as I do." 

 

Clark's anger became mere annoyance. This woman was clearly insane. Clark wasn't under her control. There wasn't any kryptonite anywhere nearby.   He sniffed, no longer wanting to hide his derision. "You should get professional help..." 

 

In the blink of an eye, Clark had taken his suit and boots and dressed, leaving the pajama bottoms he'd been wearing in shreds on the floor.   She didn't seem at all surprised by his sudden change of apparel and she smiled up at him.

 

He didn't care how much damage he did, it served her right for kidnapping him even though she was obviously deluded. So, with an effort of his will, Clark shifted his gravitational field and flew straight up, punching through the roof. 

 

To say he was surprised when he didn't get very far would be a huge understatement.

 

Clark stopped still in the air as if he'd run to the end of a rope tied around his waist. It was like he was tethered to the house, but there was nothing visible holding him in place. He could feel a phantom rope tighten around his waist and even felt the tug of the line that kept him from flying away, but there was nothing to grab; nothing to break. Frustrated by this, Clark screamed as he flew as hard he could against the invisible tether but it did him absolutely no good.

 

He looked down at the women below him and they looked up at him smugly. Determined to break whatever it was that kept him from flying away, Clark applied even more effort to flying away but it was useless.  He didn't move a single inch further away from the house.

 

The woman who'd spoke watched him for several minutes, apparently not at all concerned about his attempt to leave. "I would come back into the house if I were you, my pet."

 

Getting tired from his exertions, Clark spoke between gasps as he still continued to struggle against the invisible restraint.  "What is this?"

 

The woman smiled and held up the stone. "Magic, my pet." 

 

"I am not your pet." Clark fought harder to pull against the phantom rope that held him. His captor frowned at him, held up the stone, and Clark's head exploded with pain. So surprised by the unexpected pain, Clark suddenly was in complete agony, he forgot to keep flying. He dropped back to the floor at his captor's feet.

 

He was confused by what was going on, there was no apparent source for the agony. Only kryptonite had ever been this painful, but he didn't feel weak or nauseous at all and that somehow that made it worse. He was healthy, but in torment. She looked down haughtily at him as he gasped on the floor. He asked in between hitches in his breath, "What're... doing... to me?"

 

"I'm making a point. You don't do what I ask, you feel pain." She touched the stone again and the pain disappeared. Clark breathed in deeply, finally able to catch his breath and he looked up at her; his anger growing. "You will learn to obey me, my pet. I can guarantee it."

 

Clark grimaced and moved to stand but she shook her head. He frowned.

 

"No, my pet. You will always be on your knees when I'm around. You're very tall and I'm very short. I do not like looking _up_ to give you instructions...   Besides, it underscores your new role here."

 

Clark's voice dropped and he growled at her, "I bow to no one." Slowly and deliberately, he stood.

 

She frowned up at him but he didn't wait to see what she'd do next because he sped from the room. Clark thought that he might have more leverage on the ground and might have better luck breaking the magical restraint. He ran down the steps and headed toward the front door. Clark knew he'd soon reach the limits of the spell and he was right. He didn't even make it outside before he hit the end of the invisible rope. He stopped dead in the middle of the mansion's foyer.

 

He pulled as hard as he could against the restraint but it was no use. It didn't matter how hard he pulled, he even cracked the hardwood floorboards under his feet, and he still didn't budge one micron closer to the door and freedom. He screamed in frustration as he heard her voice in his head as if she were standing next to him.

 

"_Stop testing the limits of the spell, my pet. There is no escape._"

 

"I won't just sit still and let you treat me like this!" Clark tried even harder, breaking several of the floor boards as he tried to pull his way through the door that was so tantalizingly close, yet so far away.

 

He heard footsteps coming down the steps. He braced himself for more pain and she didn't surprise him.

 

The pain hit him like a ton of bricks but he ignored it as best he could and continued pulling against the magical tether that kept him where he didn't want to be. He faltered a bit when the pain got worse and he was having trouble breathing, but he wasn't going to let a little pain keep him from trying to escape. 

 

He was surprised when the magical tether suddenly lengthened. He wasn't free, but he was closer to the door by several feet. He felt gratified by that. It looked like he could free himself by sheer brute force so he kept on pulling. 

 

The pain disappeared unexpectedly, but what happened next surprised him almost more than anything else ever had.  He dropped to the floor as if he'd been a puppet whose strings had been cut.

 

His arms and legs had just stopped working. He landed on his side, one arm caught beneath him, and he tried to roll over so he could sit up or stand, but he couldn't.

 

Confused at not being able to move, he tried hard to "tell" his arms and legs to move but they wouldn't budge... Strange, but he wasn't sure he was doing it right. It was as if he couldn't remember how.

 

He looked up at her as she approached and he was thoroughly perplexed.

 

Her face had an odd look to it as she held one hand toward Clark. A halo of dark green energy encircled her hand and a strand of it stretched to his body and wrapped around him in its eerie light.

 

She smiled, but it was a strained, her face tense, her voice flat, "Forgotten how to move, my pet?"

 

Shocked at how right she was, Clark wanted to deny it but somehow couldn't. His head refused to shake and his voice somehow couldn't form the words he wanted to say to her. He could only sigh deeply in protest when she knelt down next to him and pushed him over onto his back.

 

"You've got a much higher tolerance for pain than most... The torment I was putting you through has made other men sob like babies and promise to do anything I want if only I'd stop the pain, but not you." She smiled again as she softly brushed dark curls from Clark's eyes. "Forgive me for making you forget how to move. I had to stop you, my pet.  I can't have you ruining my house." She sighed softly as Clark could only look on, completely powerless to do anything.

 

"I think I'm going to have to rethink the sorcery that binds you to me and to this stone...." She gently cupped his cheek in her hand. Clark couldn't move away from her touch, but he grimaced and looked up at her. She looked tired, as if the magic she was wielding over him was a difficult to sustain.

 

"But I'm going to need something from you, my pet. A deeper binding spell will require use of your true name." Clark felt something slip into place inside his head and his voiceless sigh became a moan. He remembered how to talk. "What's your name?"

 

Clark was confused. "I'm Superman."

 

She frowned and leaned in closer to Clark. "No, I need you to say your name, not what the newspapers call you. So, I ask again: What is your _name_?" Her hand felt warm against his cheek and Clark felt strangely impelled to tell her, but he managed to just give his birth name instead.

 

He spoke in a soft whisper, "I'm Kal-El of Krypton..."

 

She looked at him, perplexed. "That is the name your parents gave you at birth, isn't it? But there is no power in those words. It's not how you think of yourself so it's not your True Name." She again rubbed his cheek and the urge to comply with her demands got stronger. "What is your _name_?"

 

He didn't want to reveal his name to her but still he replied softly, "Clark Jerome Kent."

 

She smiled broadly and when she repeated the words of his name, using the exact same intonation and tone he did. "_Clark Jerome Kent..._"  Clark could feel the power in his name when she spoke it. Powered by her magic, the sounds and power of his name reverberated throughout the room. 

 

She smiled down at him. "That _is_ your True Name. Thank you, my pet, speaking that will give the spell I will weave over you more power."

 

She looked up as the other woman approached. "He's going to sleep now and I will need him moved back upstairs."

 

Clark wanted to protest that he wasn't tired, but his eyes became heavy and started to drift closed as his breathing deepened. He was falling asleep even though he wasn't the least bit tired. Confused again, Clark's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her.

 

"I'm not sleepy..."

 

"Sleep anyway, my pet.  It will give me time to rest and collect a few things I need for my new magical weaving without worrying about you trying to escape again."

 

Clark's eyes again closed and he could do nothing to stop the sleep that overcame him.

 

~:::~

 

 

When Clark woke next, he was in a dark room he hadn't seen before. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. 

 

He had a vague sense of something being wrong but couldn't remember what. 

 

He felt that there was somewhere else he needed to be, but he couldn't remember where. Clark sat up and looked around, confused. 

 

A woman he vaguely remembered seeing before sat in a chair next to the bed he was on. He looked at her, confused at why she was there and why he couldn't remember her, but she smiled warmly at him.

 

"How are you feeling, my pet?"

 

Clark thought for a moment. His face screwed up in confusion. "I feel a little bit fuzzy, mistress..."

 

Her smile broadened for reasons Clark didn't understand, but she pointed to the floor at her feet. "You'll feel better over here, kneeling at my feet, my pet."

 

Clark scowled. He didn't see how that could be. Something about it felt... off. However, he wanted to feel better. He listened to her heart, it was steady. She was telling the truth so he climbed out of bed and knelt at her feet as she'd requested.

 

And he did feel better sitting at her feet. However, there was a part of him that was saying how wrong it was too. He ignored that because it felt good to be next to his mistress so he leaned his head into her fingers as she caressed his hair. 

 

"Very good, my pet. See how good that feels?" She continued to caress his hair as she spoke again. "Now that you've been tamed, I have some things I need you to do and tomorrow, I have a phone call I need to make."

 

~:::~

 

 

The rest of that day, and a better part of the next, had been spent doing as she wanted him to do.

 

The tasks she set to him weren't difficult tasks, but he felt so much better after pleasing her. When he thought about why he was there doing her bidding, it bothered him but then she'd distract him with petty pleasures like something tasty to eat which she'd feed to him from her hand. Or she would give him a gentle touch or a warm smile.

 

When that didn't help when he got distracted or hesitated, the pain would remind him that he needed to obey quickly to make her happy. 

 

He fixed some broken floor boards and patched a hole someone had made in the roof. He vaguely remembered seeing them before but couldn't imagine who would damage his mistress' house on purpose.

 

The time came for his mistress to make her call and she needed him to just kneel at her feet for reasons Clark didn't understand. He was glad that made her happy, however, so he eagerly knelt at her feet as his mistress' companion set up the video conference camera.

 

At least he was happy until he learned who she was calling and why.

 

Clark's anger cut through the fog she'd cast across his mind and he remembered how he'd come to be there what his mistress' goals were in kidnapping him. However, the pain she was now capable of causing him was far worse than it had been.

 

As Clark lay panting at her feet, the pain made breathing difficult, she explained, "Knowing your True Name gives me extra power over you, my pet... It made the spells I wove much, much more powerful.   The pain I can give you profoundly worse than I'd been able to do before." 

 

Clark had difficulty looking at her through his agony dimmed eyes. "Le.... Luthor won't pay a single dime for me."

 

"I think you're wrong, my pet, but the only way you're going to find out will be if you sit here at my feet. Only then will the pain stop."

 

Clark had to get the pain to stop, he couldn't think but he couldn't move without causing more pain. He groaned in agony as the pain that was already more than he could stand grew worse. The pain pushed him close to unconsciousness and Clark welcomed the coming oblivion. However, she must have sensed how close he was to passing out because the pain changed. It didn't stop or lessen, but the dark that had been pressing in on his vision retreated.

 

The strain of her controlling the spell showed in her voice and on her face. "Oh, I can't have you passing out. I need you awake and clearly under my power."

 

Clark managed to speak through clenched teeth. "I'm not completely in your power, or you wouldn't need to work so hard."

 

"True, my pet, but what he doesn't know will help me in my negotiations." She clenched her own teeth and, through an effort of her will, the pain got even worse, but the black still eluded Clark.

 

He had to get the pain to stop. Clark couldn't think and he was even having problems seeing. The torment was more than he could stand.

 

He cried out in defeat as he pushed up to kneel at her feet. The pain abated somewhat and Clark sighed in relief, finally able to take a deep breath.

 

"Place your head against my knee, my pet."

 

Clark did as she ordered and the pain further receded but wasn't quite gone. "I thought you said..."

 

"That's to help you stay focused on obeying me while I talk to Luthor." Her voice again became stern and the pain flared up. "Remember to call me 'mistress,' my pet, or the pain will come back even worse than before."

 

Clark nodded, in pure misery. Then she placed the call.

 

~:::~

 

 

"Mr. Luthor, I'm so pleased you took my call." As she talked, she caressed Clark's hair.

 

Clark's heart skipped a beat when he heard the angry voice of his enemy, his former friend. "I'm a busy man. Let's get to it. What is it that you want to sell me?"

 

She continued in her deep, throaty voice. "Just something that you've lost and I've found."

 

"Something you stole, you mean. There is only one thing that I'm missing that I want back. Is it something that wears a lot of primary colors? Is that what you're talking about?"

 

Clark didn't look up at her, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

 

"I'll show you exactly what I'm talking about." Clark could hear the video camera's lens motors whirr as the camera zoomed back, no doubt to show Lex Clark sitting at her feet.

 

She continued -- the gloat apparent in her voice. "I was right that you might want to buy this. Is this valuable to you?"

 

Lex tried to sound casual, but Clark could tell he was indeed interested. "He's a royal pain in my ass. He has cost me a fortune this fiscal year alone, so you've actually done me a favor. I'm glad that the alien is finally out of the skies, but why would I want to pay you for him? As far as I'm concerned, you can keep him."

 

Clark looked up at the witch when she held up a large sign that read 'Superman for Sale'.

 

"If you don't want to buy him, I'm sure I could find someone else who would. I might even put him up on eBay." She leaned forward. "His new owners might want to cause you even more problems than he has. You have even more enemies than he does." She dropped the sign and reached into her pocket. Clark couldn't stop a flinch when he saw what she had in her hand, but said nothing. Lex stayed silent.

 

She held up the stone.  "I'm not sure anyone else would find this as valuable as you would."

 

Clark noticed the stone had a reddish brown stain on it that looked like dried blood. He frowned and his eyes flicked over at the monitor where he could see Lex intensely staring into the camera. Clark looked back to the stone in the woman's hand. Lex was clearly intrigued. 

 

He asked, trying to sound disinterested. "What is that?"

 

"It's just a way to control the uncontrollable." She leaned over and whispered into Clark's ear. "Kiss my feet, my pet." Clark hesitated, unwilling to bend himself to her will anymore than he already had. He didn't want to do that in front of Lex, anyway, and she gently rubbed the stone with her fingers. The effect of that was instantaneous. Clark was thrown into complete agony.

 

"My pet, why do you make it so hard on yourself? You know that doing as I bid is the only way to avoid the pain... Don't you?"

 

Clark growled his response through clenched teeth, "Yes... mistress." She again stroked the stone softly and pain got much worse and centered on his stomach. He cried out and fell forward onto the floor, his hands wrapped across his abdomen. His chest heaved and his body trembled with the pain. 

 

"You know to make the pain stop, my pet, you have to do as I've commanded. I don't understand why you hesitate..." Gasping for breath, Clark looked back at Lex on the monitor. His former friend looked fascinated by the ease with which she put him into so much pain.

 

His captor followed Clark's gaze. "Oh, I see... you don't want your greatest enemy to see you serve another; to be humiliated in front of him." She touched the stone again and Clark gasped with yet another increase in pain. "However, I need a demonstration of my power over you, my pet. Do it or the pain will just continue to get worse."

 

Clark whispered a pained "Yes, mistress." Shaking with the effort, Clark managed to get up on all fours and he pressed his lips against her foot. As soon as he did, the pain finally stopped. He panted for air, recovering from the pain.

 

She spoke again, "Kneel at my feet as you had been doing, my pet." This time Clark didn't need to be told twice. He quickly pushed up and knelt at her feet, again placing his head against her knee. He briefly looked at Lex before he turned his face away, grateful for the curls that blocked his enemy from seeing the shame of defeat reflected in his eyes.

 

The woman now sounded smug. "I think having Superman willingly at your beck and call would be something a man of your tastes would pay a lot of money for. Am I right?"

 

Lex replied in a very cold, and a very business like, manner.   Of course she was right.  "How much?"

 

"That will be something I want to negotiate with you in person about."

 

"Just tell me when and where, but be sure to bring him with you."

 

~:::~

 

 

Lex watched Clark with fascination as he talked to his enemy's captor on the meeting arrangements. After Superman again knelt at her feet and placed his head onto her knee, Clark's body finally relaxed, now free of pain. 

 

She softly brushed the curls from Clark's eyes. Lex could see now that his eyes had glazed over and his face had an oddly contented look. Lex realized that Clark must be under some sort of spell. That made sense. Even ensorcelled, no one could easily make Superman do what he didn't want to do. Clark was extremely bullheaded.

 

As he talked to her, working out the logistics of where they'd meet and to what numbered account to pay the agreed upon amount, Lex's anger built. 

 

The fact that this nameless woman humiliated and controlled Clark when he could not infuriated him. It incensed him more than anything Superman had ever done. 

 

Lex would see her beg for her life before ended it. He would humiliate her far worse than what she'd done to Clark.

 

The thought gave him a peace of mind he hadn't had since his enemy was stolen from him.

 

The tension evaporated from Lex's body and he sat back and smiled at her as she continued to caress Clark's hair. As soon as their video conference call ended, he immediately clicked on the intercom.

 

"Mercy! Get in here... I have work for you to do."

 

** [Continued here...  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) ** [ ](http://www.statcounter.com/free_web_stats.html)


	3. Superman for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   Lex meets the witch to negotiate Superman's purchase price.

  
  
  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
---|---  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 3**_

This isn't really a cross-over, but I ~~stole shamelessly~~ err...  ~~borrowed liberally~~ err... made an homage respectfully to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books. Particularly in the use of magic circles and some of the ways he has Harry construct them in the books.  

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary:**  Lex meets the witch to negotiate Superman's purchase price.

Previous parts [**here**](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html), and [**here**](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html).

Part 3 of about 15...

~:::~

When Lex's limo drove up to the dingy motel, as Lex absentmindedly felt the silky texture of Clark's cape that was draped across his lap, he frowned.   He of course had Mercy check the place out after he'd arranged to meet Clark's kidnapper here. He wouldn't want to admit this to the woman, but the place was perfect.

 

Small and out of the way, the motel had two buildings. The second smaller building where they'd be meeting was behind the main one and was out of sight of the road and the motel's office.  The rooms in that building were little used and currently, he'd been assured when he'd called to inquire, no other guests were staying there.

 

No one would notice Superman being taken inside anymore than they would notice when he was taken out again.

 

After quite a bit of digging, Lex discovered the identity of Clark's kidnapper and where she'd been keeping him.  Madeline De La Cruz and her lover, Maureen McMullen, had actually kidnapped other men before. They'd grown rich using her magic to blackmail them. She and her lover were living in the lap of luxury on the backs of men Madeline had tortured with her enchantments. Lex was going to enjoy killing her when the time came.

 

As Mercy drove the limo around to the back building, Lex gently fingered the golden emblem in the middle of the cape as they pulled into the parking lot. He folded the cape as Mercy parked in front of the room where they were meeting this woman and her lover. He tried to make his face as impassive as possible before getting out.

 

Mercy knocked on the door of the motel room. An extremely pretty, blond haired woman he hadn't seen before, the witch's lover no doubt, opened the door. He entered the surprisingly large room and paused just inside the door.

 

Clark was curled up on the only bed in the room, fast asleep. The other bed that had been there had been removed. Lex knew there had been a second one because the fake headboard for it was still attached to the wall. The remaining bed had been pushed into the center of the room, leaving space all way around it.

 

Lex was surprised by this and looked at the woman who sat in a chair that was facing the door.

 

He was angry, "This isn't what we agreed to..."

 

"You told me to bring him. You never specified the level of consciousness you wanted him in." She shrugged. "I need him asleep to give me time to rest before performing the spells that will transfer power over him to you. If this is a successful negotiation, that is."

 

She was right, but he was still perturbed. She indicated that Lex should sit in the second chair, but he hesitated. Lex had brought the cape so Clark could put it on, but he had to admit that he rather liked the view he had of Clark from behind him without the cape. He had an unobstructed view of the other man's broad back and beautifully formed ass, but somehow Superman's uniform just didn't look... right, without it.

 

Lex scowled at the woman and shook out the cape. He indicated the sleeping, cape-less Superman. "May I?"

 

She looked at Lex in pleased surprise and nodded her head.

 

Lex walked over to the bed and rolled Clark over onto his stomach. He looked at Superman's splendid back for a moment before he pulled on the neckline. Lex reached into the suit to find the closure that attached the cape to the blue stretchy stuff Clark's uniform was made from. 

 

He hoped that Clark's captor didn't question how Lex had learned to attach the cape to the suit.

 

His knowledge was thanks to a very long day he spent in Clark's apartment examining Superman's spare suits while Clark was out of town. He had wanted to try to figure out how the apparently seamless fabric with no visible means of attachment stayed... well... attached to the suit. He never did figure out the exact mechanism, the attachments were apparently either invisible or microscopic, but he did get the hang of attaching and detaching the cape to the inside of the suit. All it took was a little pressure in the right place and it stuck all by itself.

 

Not that Lex would have admitted it, but he had actually enjoyed playing with the voluminous cape and seeing how it draped once it was tucked inside the neckline of the suit. He had tried slightly different ways of folding the fabric before he attached it and got some very nice effects. Too bad Clark always attached the cape the exact same way each and every time. It was so boring. Lex thought he could teach him a thing or two about varying the style.

 

Lex sighed as he tucked the cape in. He did it the way he liked it best, never mind the way that Clark usually did it, and quickly finished. He draped the scarlet fabric out over Clark's broad back. He smiled and was glad he was facing away from Clark's abductor. Lex wouldn't want her to see him appreciate Clark on this level.

 

He pulled on Clark's shoulder so he was again lying on his side. Lex fanned the cape out over Clark's sleeping form so the golden shield was draped over his shoulder.   He really liked that emblem better than the more garish one on Clark's chest. It had a subtlety the more colorful one on his chest lacked.

 

Clark frowned a little in his sleep and he tugged on the edge of the cape, pulling it up to his chin. Lex smiled. Clark looked so adorable, like a little boy snuggling with a blanket.

 

She sounded annoyed. "Are you done? I would like to get down to business..."

 

Lex tried to sober his face before he turned around. He arched an eyebrow in her direction, but said nothing as he sat down. 

 

The woman looked over at Clark, and nodded with approval. "His uniform does seem to be much more handsome with the cape than without it. I am so glad you brought it along."

 

Lex nodded allowed himself a small smile. The cape somehow really did help pull the ridiculous outfit together and made it work.

 

He looked back at the woman sitting across from him. His face sobered and his voiced sounded more serious. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"

 

Her smile faded and she replied coldly. "Of course, should I start?"

 

Lex kept his reply to a single cool, stiff nod. He hoped his face was impassive, but waiting for her to start speaking was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

She took a deep breath, clearly nervous. "Fifty million."

 

Lex knew the price she'd ask would be steep but was mildly surprised she had the guts to go so high. He coolly replied, "Ten."

 

She sucked in her breath, truly shocked. "Ten? Is that all he is worth to you? You surprise me. If we're going to haggle, at least I thought your counter offer would be a bit closer..."

 

"You wanted my counter offer to be bit closer to that ridiculous price? Some movies don't cost that much to make." He looked at the still sleeping Superman, who'd begun to snore softly, which Lex found oddly adorable.

 

He looked back at her and sneered, "How do I know your spells are worth it? How do I know that they'll work for me?"

 

A smile brightened up her face. "Oh, they're worth it and they will work for you. The way they'll be constructed any idiot can maintain them."

 

Lex scowled at her, intentionally misunderstanding what she meant. "Any idiot? Calling me an idiot won't get you very far in this negotiation, Ms. De La Cruz."

 

She blanched, shaken by his mistaken impression and the fact he knew her name even though she'd never told him. "Well, of course you're not an idiot Mr. Luthor. A man of your intelligence would of course have no trouble with these spells. In fact, the smarter and more disciplined a regular person is, like you, the easier it is for them to use this."

 

She held up the stone. "Once you've paid the agreed upon price and I explain how to do it, of course." She looked across at Clark and then looked back over at Lex. "So for a man like you, with a strong will and a disciplined mind, I'm willing to take forty."

 

Lex scowled at her. "I'm not sure he's even worth that much, despite the effective spells." He looked at Clark and then back at her. "How will this work? I want to know what I have to do to control him."

 

She sighed "It's actually quite simple. All you need to do is imagine what you want him to feel."

 

Lex was skeptical and it must have showed on his face. "All I have to do is imagine what I want him to feel?"

 

She waved her hand toward him in a dismissive gesture.  "There's a little more to it than that, but in essence that's all you have to do." She sniffed disdainfully, "Can we continue?"

 

He sat back and narrowed his eyes and hoped his voice stayed frosty. "Fifteen."

 

She huffed in response. "You insult me, Mr. Luthor."

 

Lex just stared at her in reply. She returned Lex's cold stare with one of her own. "Thirty-five million."

 

Lex sighed, affecting what he hoped was a bored tone. "I'll give you twenty to end this right now." Lex straightened his tie and looked at Clark, who still slept. "That is my final offer. If that isn't acceptable, then I suggest you find another buyer."

 

She contemplated the offer for a moment, looking over at her lover as she took a deep breath. She glanced over at the gently snoring Superman and then smiled at Lex. "Done."

 

Lex looked back at Mercy who was already dialing the banker. She whispered the amount to the man on the other end of the phone. He'd already been given the account number so Lex knew it would only take moments for the money to get there. Mercy waited a moment then said, "Thank you.  Mr. Luthor always appreciates your promptness and discretion." She snapped her cell phone shut and nodded in Lex's direction. 

 

The woman's paramour was already on the phone to her banker when Lex looked over. She smiled a huge smile at her lover, the witch, before she closed her cell phone.

 

Business done, Lex looked over at Clark, still fast asleep and wrapped up in the scarlet cape. Superman shifted his weight a bit and pulled his legs up. It was so adorable the way he snuggled under the cape like a little boy would under a warm blanket. Lex couldn't resist smiling as he gazed at his new possession. Realizing he let his guard down when he probably shouldn't have, he looked over at the witch. She gaped at him in shocked surprise.

 

Comprehension dawned and she was furious. "You should have told me.  You're in love with him, aren't you? "

 

Lex bristled at her presumption and hoped his face had returned to his usually impassive visage. "My feelings about Superman were not material to this transaction."

 

She laughed bitterly. "Oh, yes they were." She looked at Lex, exasperated. "I should have asked for more..." She crossed her arms and sighed. "No matter, I would have been happy with ten."

 

Lex allowed himself to smirk. "I would have paid fifty." 

 

She glared at him and then glanced over at the gently snoring Clark. "If you would please arrange him so that he is lying on his back with his hands folded across his body and put his feet together, I will go prepare the spell." She glared at Lex one more time and left the room, followed by her lover.

 

Lex spoke to Mercy without looking at her. "Please wait outside." His minion quickly left Lex alone with Clark.

 

Lex allowed himself to relax. He sighed as he looked at the charmed Clark. It had been a long time since he'd seen Clark relaxed enough around him that he could sleep. It was amazing how different he looked when he wasn't angrily spouting moralistic platitudes or urgently lecturing Lex on the responsible use of power. Lying on his side, Clark's face was peaceful and angelic in slumber. His tranquil expression reminded Lex of the naïve teen he had been so long ago.

 

He pulled on Clark's very solid shoulder, and rolled the sleeping Superman onto his back. Lex realized that as close as he'd been to him physically as many times as he'd had, he hadn't actually touched Clark in years, not since they had been friends. 

 

Clark's body had always been attractive but as he had aged his form had matured into a thing of pure beauty. His musculature and bulk were perfectly proportioned to his large frame; Clark was physically the most beautiful man Lex had ever seen.

 

The gentle rise and fall of Superman's chest as he slept his enchanted sleep was breathtaking. So much so Lex couldn't resist running a hand across the other man's broad chest and the large symbol that covered it. The flesh was firm and smooth under the silky fabric but Lex knew better than most how tough both the suit, and the skin underneath it, really was. 

 

Beauty, strength and masculinity were combined perfectly in Clark and Lex found himself aroused by being so close to Clark. He wanted more than anything to kiss Clark and taste his skin, seeing for himself if it tasted as good as it smelled.

 

Lex ran his hand down the Clark's arm to his hand. He held the surprisingly warm and soft hand for a moment before he placed it on the other man's well-defined abs.

 

He looked at the face of his enemy and couldn't get over how young Clark still looked. Closing in on thirty, he didn't look much older than he had when they'd first met more than a decade before. What changes that had happened to Clark's face had only perfected what had already been perfect. Lex wasn't sure how that was even possible, but he mentally added super-handsomeness and super-masculinity to the long list of Clark's super powers.

 

Lex smiled at the thought and reached across Superman's body and gently picked up his other hand. Clark sighed sleepily and Lex's heart skipped a beat when his enemy gently squeezed his hand. For a moment, Lex thought that Clark had awoken and was showing him some affection but he was disappointed. He realized his 'enemy' was still asleep when Clark's surprisingly warm hand relaxed again almost immediately.

 

Of course, Superman wouldn't knowingly show his greatest enemy the least bit of affection. It had probably been a reflex of some kind. 

 

Lex sighed regretfully and placed Superman's hand on top of the other one and then artfully draped Clark's cape over his body. He looked at Clark's face again. On a whim, Lex gently brushed the very Clark-like curls from Superman's eyes. He tried to make Clark's hair look more like Superman's, but given he didn't have any mousse or hair gel it was probably a fruitless task.

 

However, he thought that Clark looked nobler with his hair brushed off of his face. He smiled at the affect as the door opened to the connecting room and the witch entered.

 

She glared at Lex and motioned him away. Lex glared back but moved away from the bed anyway. She took out a large piece of chalk and drew a circle on floor around the bed. She used a different colored chalk to draw symbols, making a second circle inside the first. Lex was surprised when he noticed that she included several instances of the Superman 'S' shield. She took out a small pouch, and took out a piece of kryptonite. The effect on the sleeping superman was immediate. Although he didn't wake, Clark moaned and trembled from the pain. She quickly placed the kryptonite on top of one Superman Shields. She took out several more and placed them on top of all eight instances of the symbol of the House of El. Clark moaned more weakly as his body tried to deal with the added assault, but he still didn't wake from his spell-induced slumber.

 

She took out several other small objects, creating yet another circle inside the other two she'd already created.  Lex looked more closely at the objects as she placed on the floor and they chilled him to the bone. They all had to do with non-superman parts of Clark's life. There were worn pencils, pages from a reporter's notebook covered with what Lex recognized as Clark's hand writing, clippings of articles Clark had written for the Daily Planet, photos of cows grazing in a field, dried feed corn, pieces of hay, a campaign button from Mrs. Kent's last run for office, and a broken pair of Clark's eye glasses.

 

As she worked, he looked at the woman with a growing fury. He became murderously resolved that as soon as Clark was safely away from her, that she would die a very painful and humiliating death.

 

The bits of Clark's life spread out on the floor around the sleeping man were a violation of a boundary that Lex never crossed. He respected the separation of Clark's dual identities and never attacked him as Clark Kent. He wasn't even sure if Clark was aware that Lex wasn't in the least bit fooled by his disguise, if you could call "styling your hair differently and wearing glasses" a disguise. However, he never gave any indication that he knew Clark was in fact Superman. The only point he let the two identities meet in his mind were the myriad break-ins over the years into Clark's apartment, but he'd been very careful. He was sure that Clark didn't know about those.

 

She stood up and took out a sheathed dagger. She pulled it from its sheath and the blade glowed a sickly green. It was made from kryptonite. 

 

Clark groaned even more weakly as she cut the pad of his thumb with it. Clark gasped at the painful slice, but still didn't wake as his chest heaved and his face screwed up with the agony. The witch took out the small stone and pressed the bloody thumb to it, adding fresh blood to what Lex now realized was Clark's dried blood on the surface of the stone. She placed the small stone on top of the shield covering Clark's chest. She took Clark's still bleeding thumb and drew an 'S' on his forehead before placing his hand back on top of the other one.

 

She turned to Lex and beckoned him closer. Lex hesitated and she scowled at him. "I need a drop of your blood or I've done all this work for nothing." Lex glared at her in return and stepped forward. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the ring of circles. Lex was careful to not disturb the circles as he moved to stand next to the tiny woman. 

 

The building magic was apparent as soon as he entered the circle. His skin felt like bugs were crawling all over it. It seriously creeped Lex out, and he never got creeped out. He was going to be very glad when this was over with.

 

She took his hand and cut the pad of his thumb just like she'd done to Clark's.

 

"Now, touch the stone and then trace the 'S' on his forehead with your blood."

 

When Lex touched the stone his thumb was still bleeding, but it had started to heal by the time he tried to trace the 'S' on Clark's forehead. She frowned. "How has it stopped bleeding already? I thought I had cut deep."

 

Lex shrugged, "I heal fast."

 

She was annoyed. "I still need your blood to mix with his or this isn't going to work."

 

Lex frowned and grabbed the kryptonite dagger from her hand. He cut his thumb even more deeply than she did and reached over to trace the 'S' on Clark's forehead, but a drop of blood fell into the other man's open mouth. Clark reflexively swallowed and something happened.  A visible ripple of energy radiated out from Clark's body. In its wake, the papers on the floor rustled and the windows and doors of the room rattled. 

 

The witch gasped in shock.   Perplexed, he looked at her ashen face and waited for her to explain what had happened, but she said nothing. Feeling speech wouldn't be appropriate, he hesitated only a second before he traced the 'S' on Clark's forehead like she wanted. She held out her hand and Lex gave her back the dagger and carefully stepped back out of the circles. 

 

Still pale, she used the dagger on her own thumb. She held her hand up while she placed the blade on Clark's stomach. The increase in pain that he felt was instantly apparent. Clark gasped and his breathing hitched as he tried to deal with the pain, even though he still didn't wake.

 

Lex was impressed at the strength of the woman's spell. He knew how painful kryptonite poisoning was to Clark and the man was clearly in agony. 

 

The woman, careful to not allow any blood to drop, quickly stepped outside the circles. She squeezed a drop of blood onto the outer circle. Lex heard a small pop and a shimmering wall of energy, which radiated up from the chalk, surrounded Clark. It was if the magical circles formed a barrier, holding the magic inside them.

 

She knelt on the floor and started to chant as she held out her hand toward the sleeping man. The light brightened inside the magical column of energy and started to swirl around Superman. This somehow increased the pain. He moaned again, his breath now only coming in stilted gasps, as his back arched against the pain.

 

In complete agony, Clark finally opened his eyes.

 

[Continued here....](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html)

   
   
   
[](http://www.statcounter.com/)   
  


	4. Superman for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   The witch performs her magic to transfer power over Clark to Lex.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
creative  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 4**_  
**Title:** Superman for Sale  
**Author:** D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing:** Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex

**Rating:** NC-17  
**Warnings:** Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers:** None   
**Short summary:**  The witch performs her magic to transfer power over Clark to Lex.

Part 4 of about 15...

What came before....

[First Part,](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) [Second Part,](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) [Third Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html).

Again, this borrows heavily from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books, which have been turned into a TV show ~~starting a week from Sunday,~~ which had failed miserably and was cancelled before the final episode was shown, actually.  The summoning circle use is slightly different than in the books, but it works for this story....

 

 

~:::~

 

Clark woke in pain and he knew that the witch had to be to blame.

 

The last thing he remembered was being under her spell and her commanding him to sleep in a sleazy motel bed. He looked around, he was still there in that room, but the air was alive with pain. 

 

There were bands of colored light swirling around and above him and each pass they made over his body was like knives cutting into his flesh. Added to that, he could feel the acid burn of kryptonite touching his stomach and the feel of more of it in the room around him.

 

He knew he had to try to get up and get away, or at least push the kryptonite off of his stomach, but he couldn't move. All he could hear was the incessant chanting of the witch. She was performing some kind of spell.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Clark could see a figure standing near the door to the room. It was Lex...

 

_Lex..._

 

Despite the pain, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Lex. He didn't remember Lex being so... _fascinating_ before.

 

~:::~

 

Lex gasped when he saw the change in Clark's eyes when the other man saw him. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

 

Superman seemed to go through several facial expressions as he looked at him, ending on something that looked a lot like adoration, despite the pain the man was clearly suffering. 

 

Lex frowned and the witch might have also shown some concern since she paused ever so slightly in her chanting. She glanced quickly at Lex before she continued her intonations as she looked back at Clark.

 

~:::~

 

Clark continued to gaze at Lex, unsure why the man looked so much more handsome than he ever had.

 

He tried to shrug off the feeling, but couldn't despite his anger at Lex's deal with the woman. The billionaire must have bought him from the woman or he wouldn't be here, even though Clark never thought he would. 

 

He couldn't stop looking, despite how much pain he was in and how angry he was. When Clark realized that he had become aroused looking at Lex, his anger faded when it was replaced by embarrassment as his face flushed. He wasn't sure why desire would rise up when he was in such torment, but he was grateful that someone had draped his cape over his body.  Lex must have brought it, it's the first time he'd seen it since the witch had him kidnapped. He hoped the voluminous folds of fabric helped hide the proof of his growing need.

 

The agony increased as the sound of woman's chanting got louder. Clark groaned with the pain, but still didn't take his eyes from Lex. 

 

He was surprised he'd never noticed how beautifully trim Lex's figure was and how his slacks were perfectly cut to accentuate his slim hips...

 

The pain increased again as the witch's chanting rose in volume and urgency. Clark was pushed close to unconsciousness as the pain intensified and became centered on his chest. When she stood, Clark's eyes were finally drawn away from Lex's beautiful blue eyes to her outstretched hand. Light and sound swirled around Clark as the woman started to yell her incantations. 

 

The small stone that she used to control Clark floated up from where it'd lain on his chest. The pain eased a bit when it left contact with his body, but the speed with which the magic forces were moving around him increased. He was buffeted by the painful torrents of magic as if he were inside a powerful storm. 

 

As the speed and intensity of the magic increased, the whirlwind around him narrowed and seemed to focus on the stone that was now floating several feet above him. His eyes were drawn to it as the pain increased. He groaned again, but he doubted the people in the room would have heard him over sound of the magic, it had become so loud. The agony built as the magic intensified and he finally, mercifully, passed out.

 

~:::~

 

 

Lex was surprised by the apparent arousal of his enemy. The cape didn't do that good a job hiding the powerful erection that Clark was suffering through.  The colorful lights from the magical storm swirling around Superman only partly hid the fact that Clark was in the midst of a full-body blush.  He frowned and looked at the witch, whose chants had become so loud she was yelling them. 

 

Despite his arousal, Superman also appeared to have been in tortuous agony before he finally passed out.  Clark has an incredibly high pain threshold, one which Lex had himself pushed to its limits so he knew first hand how much pain Clark could withstand.  

 

The agony the witch was putting him through must have been tremendous for it to affect him the way it had. The witch's magic must be amazingly strong. Lex was suddenly worried that such a powerful woman might not be easy to kill. An eyebrow arched as he considered that, but he decided he'd worry about that complication later.

 

As the chants the woman was yelling and the swirling magic together built into a crescendo of sound and light, the stone rose up higher as the colorful bands of magical power suddenly seemed to pour into it. Once the colorful waves of magic disappeared into the surface of the stone, she stopped chanting with a yell and the stone dropped back down to Clark's chest. Even though he was still unconscious, Clark's body shuddered with the impact and he moaned.

 

The woman took a deep breath and whispered a small word that Lex didn't recognize. She pointed at the stone and it floated back up and out of the circle toward Lex. It stopped and hung in the air just in front of him.

 

Unsure of what to do, Lex's eyes flicked back to the woman. She scowled at him, "Take it."

 

Lex grabbed it. The bloodstained stone felt warm to the touch and it made him feel lightheaded and dizzy. Clark moaned and his eyes fluttered, but he didn't wake. Lex scowled at the woman as she slowly walked over to him, the effort of the spells she'd woven having exhausted her.

 

She sighed heavily and, nodding in the direction of the stone Lex held, she said, "I'll have to show you how to use it before he wakes up."

 

"Will it be hard to do?"

 

"For you? I don't think so, it just takes concentration." The tiny woman crossed her arms in front of her chest, pushing up her breasts rather enticingly. "You just have to always keep in mind what you 'see' or 'feel' about what you want him to see or feel. If you can keep whatever it is you want clearly in your head, it's easy. For most, it is very hard to keep a particular image clearly in mind for long periods."

 

Lex understood. "Is that why you'd said that that I would find it more valuable than most people?"

 

"Yes, most people don't think that clearly so I'm surprised anything gets done at all, but not you... I can sense the order in your mind. It is as neat as you are, sleek, elegant even. Your mind is extremely disciplined. You should find it easy to keep a particular image in your mind as long as you need to. Imagining, for instance, a rope around his waist to keep him tied to you, or shards of glass cutting into his body to give him pain to control him. The moment the image fades in your mind, he stops feeling it and your control over him will weaken and eventually fail."

 

Lex pursed his lips and cocked his head toward the still out-cold Clark. "Although I can see how some things can work, a short rope to keep him near, but I doubt I could keep a particular image in mind twenty-four hours a day... How did you keep him from escaping while you slept?"

 

"I would imagine being very tired and then I would touch the stone. He can't easily fight the strong urge to sleep.  That worked better with him than any other man I'd tried that with, actually, which surprised me."

 

Lex nodded. "He likes to sleep and sleeps very soundly. Well, unless someone is in trouble that is." Lex sighed. "He's such a do-gooder."

 

She looked at Lex with a raised eyebrow. "You seem to be personally familiar with his sleeping habits...   Why is that?"

 

Lex's voice turned cold. "That is not something you need to concern yourself with."

 

She sighed and said, "He is still unconscious, but he will move into sleep before too much longer."

 

Lex looked at the woman with an arched eyebrow. "I'm not sure he'll wake with a refined kryptonite blade touching his body..."

 

She looked over. "Oh, right." She flicked her hand in the direction of the blade and softly spoke an incantation. The blade rose up and drifted over and hung in the air in front of the witch. She was about to grab it, but Lex got it first. She was about to protest indignantly but Lex held up his hand.

 

"I don't think you'll need this anymore..." He held out his hand for the sheath.

 

She scowled and handed him the lead lined sheath. She sighed and continued her thoughts. "Anyway, once you can wake him, the circles that I made imprison him and will give you a chance to try out different things. Then I will break the circles and you can take him home with you." She looked at Lex with a raised eyebrow, "Do you know what would you like to try first?"

 

Lex shrugged. "A tether to keep him close?"

 

"Okay, that should be easy to imagine. Simply clear your mind and then imagine a rope tied to him that you're holding... It can be any length."

 

Lex closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He imagined not a rope but a heavy purple silk cord securely tied to Clark's wrist. It was soft and pliable, but strong. He opened his eyes and looked to the witch, the image still in the background of his mind. He nodded.

 

"Okay, now make it shorter. Imagine tightening it."

 

Lex imagined it pulling on the cord and Clark's hand was pulled from where it laid on his stomach. Lex was surprised by that but he kept pulling. Clark's hand reached out toward Lex, but when he started to get pulled from the bed, and his hand hit the invisible wall formed by the magic circle, Lex stopped. Clark gasped in pain from the strain as his hand was pulled against the magic force field.

 

Lex looked over at the witch. She was smiling. "I would have tied the rope around his waist, but other than that, perfect."

 

Lex shrugged and let the cord lengthen in his mind. Clark's hand dropped down, his fingers hanging just above the floor, and he sighed softly. Lex thought that maybe he was now sleeping.

 

"I think you could try to wake him now and then you can try other things."

 

"Okay..."

 

"Just imagine what it feels like when you first wake. The grogginess, the momentary confusion..."

 

Lex, still keeping the purple silk cord between him and Clark in his mind, thought about how it felt when he woke and stroked the stone again. 

 

It took a few breaths and a flutter of Clark's lids, but the other man woke.  His eyes opened and he looked confused for a minute before he tried to sit up, obviously still in pain. He stopped when he felt the pull of the invisible cord tied to his wrist. 

 

Clark pulled against it as he sat up and he glared at the witch. He was clearly furious as he stood up. Lex gulped. Clark was big, but now that he was incredibly angry, and in such a small room, he looked even more enormous and the look on his face was murderous, but then he noticed Lex standing there.

 

Clark at first look surprised to see him and the fury dissipated into something more like longing and desire.  Clark's expressive eyes shifted again back into anger as Clark's jaw set and he scowled at Lex as he fell to his knees, the kryptonite in the magical circle causing him pain.

 

~:::~

 

Clark couldn't believe it. Lex not only paid the price the witch asked, he had somehow tied Clark to him too just like the witch had done, probably thanks to the small gray stone he could see in Lex's hand. Clark tested the magical tether and could tell it stretched toward Lex. His body shuddering from the pain of the kryptonite, he slowly stood up. Despite his growing anger, it was hard trying to ignore the strong desire he felt for his enemy.

 

He growled at Lex. "Luthor, I'm surprised you paid that witch's price."

 

Lex tried to calm his face, but he wasn't totally successful. Clark could tell he was scared, despite the coolness of his reply. "It was too good a deal to pass up, Superman. I've been trying to capture you for years."

 

Clark growled an inarticulate cry of fury and took a step toward Lex but he walked smack into something hard he couldn't see. It was so hard it hurt. 

 

Perplexed, he tried to feel for the edges but it curved around him and the bed like an impenetrable steel wall. He glared at the witch, who smiled pleasantly at him.

 

"Feeling a bit trapped, Superman?"

 

"What have you done, witch?"

 

She sniffed in indignation. "Actually, I prefer _wizardess_. Witch has so many negative connotations..."  She pointed at the floor at Clark's feet. "That's a circle that I've designed to hold you in while I worked my magic. It also gives me the ability to keep you in one place while I show your new owner how to control you..."

 

Clark, furious, banged as hard as he could on the invisible barrier that held him in and it didn't budge. In his weakened state, it bruised his hands. He tested the entire limits of the circle around him, and it had no break. It felt like smooth column of cool metal surrounding him even though there was nothing but a shimmer to indicate the magical power that held him in. He scowled at the witch and gave a frustrated tug on the tether that held him to Lex. 

 

The tether that held him was probably exactly like the one the wizardess had restrained him with at her house so Clark knew the invisible cord tied around his wrist would probably be inescapable like the other one. It was hard, but he resisted the urge to try flying up to see if there was a top to the magical column he found himself trapped in. He was weak enough from the kryptonite spread around him that there was no way he had the strength to succeed anyway.  He grimly stood with his arms crossed and glared at the pair as she smugly smiled back at him. Lex's look was harder to read.

 

She turned back to Lex. "You see, you have freedom to try out different things before I break the circle and release him. Maybe you should try some pain to see if you can force him to do your bidding."

 

Lex raised his eyebrows, perhaps intrigued, and replied thoughtfully. "What do you suggest?"

 

"I found imagining him being laid out on an exam table being dissected alive was the most effective."

 

Clark blanched then Lex gave an evil little chuckle. Clark tried to ignore how sexy Lex was when he was evil and clenched his jaw in what he hoped was a fierce scowl as he tried hard to ignore the pain.

 

Lex smiled and said in a very sexy growl. "No, I think I got a better idea." Lex's eyes narrowed and he touched the stone and Clark felt something like hands touch him. He blushed furiously as he felt the hands caress him intimately in between his legs. His cock immediately hardened.

 

Panicky about the obvious nature of his body's reaction, Clark tugged on his cape and pulled it around, holding it in front of his body. Grateful for how full the fabric was, he clutched it to his waist, hopefully hiding his growing erection. He looked up to see both of them smiling broadly at him.

 

She looked back at Lex, smiling knowingly at him. "I see that you were the perfect person to sell Superman to, Mr. Luthor. A very creative solution."

 

"There's more than one way to skin a cat, Wizardess De La Cruz..." Clark's blush deepened when he saw the leering smile on Lex's face as the man looked at him. "Avoiding embarrassing erections while wearing spandex I think should be a more effective incentive than pain. Am I right?"

 

Clark frowned, but didn't otherwise reply. Damn the sexy bastard. Lex _was_ right. He would do whatever Lex demanded to avoid embarrassing himself. He was so hard, it almost hurt, as the invisible fingers caressing him kept up their work.

 

"And I don't think you're coming quietly with me will be a problem, will it Superman?" 

 

Clark glumly shook his head and he pulled more of his cape into his fist.  "I'll..." His voice cracked so Clark cleared his throat and tried again, this time very quietly. "I'll come but can you make it stop please, Lex?" His blush deepened as he felt a final gentle caress and then the touches stopped. 

 

The Wizardess walked toward Clark and broke the outside chalk circle with her foot. Clark felt the magic that had held him dissipate into the air. 

 

He sighed in relief as Lex turned to leave and the woman knelt down to pick up the objects on the floor around the bed.

 

He followed at the end of his magical tether when Lex left. Outside, Lex nodded to Mercy, who still stood guard outside the room. "Make sure to pick up everything, the kryptonite included."

 

The wizardess protested from inside the room, "I spent a lot of time and money acquiring these."

 

"I just paid your price, Wizardess De La Cruz. I won't leave things in your control that give you power over my new possession. I think my money has given me that right."

 

She frowned and just left, brushing past Lex and Clark outside the room. Clark looked back at the stuff on the floor and recognized all of it. There were pages ripped from his reporter's notebook, a broken pair of glasses he'd last jammed into a drawer in his apartment, pictures of the farm, a campaign button of his mother's, and articles he'd written. He paled when he realized the level of personal violation this woman had performed on him.

 

Mercy quietly gathered up everything as Lex led Clark out to his car, a long stretch limo. She held the door open as Clark hesitated outside the car and Lex climbed into the back.

 

Clark looked up longingly at the sky, wishing he could fly away from here and the inexplicable desire he was still feeling for his old enemy. Weakened by the kryptonite in Mercy's possession, he would have had no chance of fighting the magical restraint. That, and a tug on the magical restraint, gave him no choice but to follow. 

~:::~

 

 

[Continued here...  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) 

   
  [](http://www.statcounter.com/free_hit_counter.html) 


	5. Superman for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   Now in Lex's posession, Clark has to try and make the best of a bad situation

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
sleepy  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 5**_

Hey, it's just about damn time isn't it?

Maybe Hell hasn't frozen over yet, but I've finally completed the next update to Superman for Sale!

Find the previous parts here:

[First Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html), [Second Part,](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) [Third Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html). [Fourth Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html)  
   
**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary: ** Now in Lex's posession, Clark has to try and make the best of a bad situation

 

 

 

~:::~

 

Mercy closed the door behind him as Clark slid into the backseat next to Lex. He tried to stay as far away from his captor as possible, but Lex wasn't about to let him get away with that. As Mercy climbed into the front seat, Clark tried to resist the insistent tugging but he couldn't. The cord that attached him to Lex was just as solid, and invisible, as the one witch had used on him.

The cord was on the hand away from Lex, so unless he wanted to end up sitting in Lex's lap, he had to get as close as Lex wanted him to get. He scowled at the other man as he tried to ignore the pain from the kryptonite in the front seat. His inexplicable desire for Lex hadn't been lessened by the exposure level causing him more pain.

 

Somehow, the need seemed to be emphasized by being closer to Lex. He simply... felt more. The scent of Lex's cologne, the sound of his breathing, even the familiar rhythm of his heartbeat, it had been amplified, like his senses were inside some kind of microscope and he could sense everything more deeply. Somehow all his senses seemed keener and more attuned with his surroundings, which wasn't usual while he was being poisoned by Kryptonite.

 

Clark frowned at where his leg touched Lex's. He was hyper-aware of the heat coming through the other man's slacks. He could almost feel the weave of the fabric of Lex's pants through his suit. His desire for Lex fought with the pain and nausea from the Kryptonite poisoning to gain control of his body. He was so hard it was painful. Clark wanted so badly to press a hand against himself to try to ease the pain, even if only a little, but he resisted the urge. 

 

He had to satisfy himself with hiding the evidence behind the folds of his cape he held crumpled in his fists, which he resolutely kept in his lap. Lex had been right. He'd probably do a lot to avoid an embarrassing erection in his uniform.  He glared at the smaller man, who smiled up at him with an inscrutable look on his face as he lightly fingered the edge of the cape that had fallen across his leg.

 

A thought occurred to him as he yanked the cape out from under Lex's hand. Suddenly angry, Clark huffily pointed out, "It's not spandex."

 

Lex's eyebrows creased as he looked at him, seemingly perplexed what Clark had been referring to. "What isn't spandex?"

 

He growled indignantly, "My suit."

 

Lex smiled indulgently, "Oh, that." He arched an eyebrow as Clark's scowl deepened. "The next time I pay a ransom to rescue you from a kidnapper I'll be sure to describe your costume more accurately."

 

Clark glared at his supposed rescuer. "Uniform."

 

Lex was perplexed. "Uniform?"

 

"It's not a 'costume.' I wear a uniform."

 

Lex snorted in derision. "In what army is that a uniform?"

 

A wave of pain hit him, the kryptonite reminding him that he was too close. He grimaced and stifled a groan. 

 

Lex sounded concerned. "You okay?"

 

He glanced at his buyer and growled as his breath hitched with the pain. "Like you really care."

 

Lex's look of mild shock was surprising. "I do care." He doubted Lex was really shocked at Clark's cynicism but he couldn't deny the sincerity he heard in Lex's voice. "What's wrong?"

 

Clark replied, with a strain in his voice, "Mercy should close that window...."

 

Lex was confused. "What?"

 

He nodded toward the front of the car. "Partition's made from lead crystal, right? The last time I tried, I couldn't see through it."

 

Comprehension dawned on Lex's face. "Oh, right. Sorry." Lex didn't take his eyes off of Clark as he pushed a button on the console next to him. The glass partition between the front and back seats slid closed and protected Clark from the kryptonite in the front seat.

 

Clark sighed deeply in relief and his body relaxed until he felt his inexplicable desire strengthen. He wanted desperately to cross his arms across his chest and put on his best righteously indignant pose, but his hands were needed in his lap. He needed them there where he still had both of his fists full of cape to help hide his erection. It was getting more difficult every second to resist the growing urge to press one hand against his painfully hard erection. 

 

He looked sideways at Lex, who sat next to him and made a slight sound.  Clark blushed at the appreciative noise Lex made as he felt his eyes roam up and down his body.

 

When Clark looked at Lex's face, his eyes dark with desire and his lips perfectly moist and open, he had an even better idea. Clark wanted Lex to ease the pain for him. However, that thought made him even harder and he clenched his fists even tighter trying to resist the new urge he had of kissing Lex's inviting lips. 

 

Torn by resentment for being totally objectified, sold like a used car, and gratitude for being saved from the witch's painful spells, combined with the strong desire he felt, Clark wasn't sure how to react. His mind was in turmoil and his body just wanted the desire to be sated.

 

Unsure of what to do or say, Clark decided to find out what Lex's plans were. He cleared his throat and hope he didn't look and sound as turned on as he was.  He spoke quietly. "Where are you taking me, Luthor?"

 

"When we're alone, you don't have to keep up the act..."

 

"What act?" 

 

"Clark, you can call me Lex."

 

Clark blanched. _Had Lex really known his secret identity all this time?_  He scowled and lied, "My name isn't Clark."

 

Lex arched one brow. "You really think I'm unaware of your 'secret' identity?"

 

"I have no secret identity, that's why I don't wear a mask."

 

"No, Clark. You don't wear a mask because you don't like them."

 

He sighed. "How long have you known?"

 

"I've always known, Clark. Styling your hair differently and wearing eye glasses is hardly a good disguise, but even if I hadn't known before today it's clear the witch figured it out.... She had objects from the 'Clark' side of your life spread out all around you for that spell she did."

 

Clark blushed, "She didn't figure it out, she forced me to tell her who I was." He frowned at Lex, "You never even once said anything that indicated that you knew. Why didn't you let on?"

 

Lex shrugged. "I wanted to play along..." He smirked up at Clark. "It's far too much fun pretending to not know and then watch you try to cover your tracks." Clark scowled and Lex arched an eyebrow, "It's so obvious when you know, Clark."

 

"I thought you kept breaking into my apartment to try and find clues to Superman's identity." A thought occurred to Clark. "Why did you keep doing that if you knew?"

                                                                                                                      

Lex sniffed. "I didn't break into your apartment."

 

Clark smirked. "Yes, you have. I could tell." He pointed at his eyes. "I have microscopic vision. I saw your fingerprints, Lex."

 

"You can see fingerprints?

 

"I could identify your DNA if I had to, but yes: I recognize your prints."   He smiled. "You should wear gloves when you burgle someone's place, Lex."

 

"I'm not burglarizing if I don't take anything." He scowled back at Clark. "If you knew I was breaking in why didn't you call the cops?"

 

He shrugged. "Because you never take anything." The discussion had distracted Clark a bit from point he'd tried to make. He glared at Lex. "You never answered my question. Where are you taking me?"

 

Lex shrugged and gestured toward the front of the car, and the long stretch of highway they were traveling. "I'm taking you that way." He smiled innocently at Clark.

 

Clark scowled, annoyed at Lex's unexpected playfulness. "That's not what I meant. You've been trying to capture me for years and now you have me. What are your plans? You going to run tests?"

 

"No, it was nothing like that, Clark. That seems so... mundane." Lex sighed and spoke in an oddly sad tone. "No, originally I had wanted to cause you agonizing pain. Maybe even put you on display so the whole world could see how I had bested and humiliated you."

 

Clark blanched at the prospect but there was a glimmer of hope in what Lex said. "Originally?"

 

His captor shrugged and he sounded perplexed and unsure. "Somehow, now that I actually have you it doesn't seem to be the thing to do anymore."

 

"No?" Clark raised his eyebrows at Lex, curious at his uncharacteristic uncertainty. It was very un-Lex-like, but all the other man did was shrug. 

 

"I'm not sure what my plans are for you in the long term,"   Lex smirked and he almost purred, as he spoke in a throaty, passionate tone. "Right now, all I want is for you to touch me." 

 

Clark glared at Lex as the magical restraint shortened and pulled his hand so it rested on Lex's knee.  Lex gently covered his hand with his own. 

 

Lex looked up at the man and frowned when he saw Clark's scowl. "You know, I thought you'd be more grateful I paid that woman's price to rescue you."

 

Clark blushed and looked down at his cape clutched in his free hand. "Well, we should probably talk about that.  I am grateful, but I plan on paying you back..." He looked down at Lex earnestly. "I'll repay every penny."

 

"You think you can pay me back?" Lex snorted, his skepticism obvious. "I don't think so."

 

Clark felt insulted. "I am a man of my word, you should know that."

 

Lex shook his head, "Unless the Daily Planet is paying you a lot more than I thought, you can't afford it."

 

He frowned. "How much did you pay?"

 

"A lot."

 

Clark sniffed indignantly, annoyed that Lex didn't really answer the question. "I'll work it off if I can't pay you back."

 

Lex laughed out loud which annoyed Clark even more. "I'm not sure I could find that much heavy lifting for you to do." Lex's smile faded and the look on his face became something different. His eyes darkened with desire. "However, there's something else you could do that doesn't require much lifting..." Lex gently squeezed the hand still resting on his knee.

 

Clark blushed furiously as his desire for Lex became nearly overwhelming. He cleared his throat and hoped he sounded firm. "Absolutely no sex." He tried to pull his hand out from under Lex's, but the magical restraint wouldn't let him. It felt like his hand was now magically tied to Lex's leg.

 

"Why not, Clark? One night of passion with you and I would consider the debt repaid. Is that too much to ask for the man who rescued you from a painful and humiliating captivity?"

 

"I won't prostitute myself, Lex." He fought the urge to kiss Lex. His soft lips were particularly inviting.  Clark knew he could easily lean over and kiss him, but he only barely resisted the impulse.

 

His voice became softer and husky with the desire he couldn't really hide anymore. "How much money are we talking, Lex? I need to know."

 

Lex looked at Clark with eyes that were dark and slightly out of focus and shrugged, as if it were nothing, "Twenty million."

 

Clark blanched, "Twenty...?" 

 

"It was worth every penny if I can get you to see things my way."

 

Clark blushed, again. "That's a lot of money, Lex, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't want to pay you back with sexual favors. I'm not a rent-boy." Even as he denied it, that was what he really wanted. He cleared his throat and hoped his voice wouldn't crack. "Can you think of something else I could do?"

 

Lex sighed but then it looked like a light went off in his head. "Well, there is something—"

 

Clark interrupted, "That's not illegal?"

 

Lex frowned and leaned back. "You're no fun, Clark.  Besides, I bought you fair and square. You shouldn't be the one placing limits on what I will accept as compensation for that."

 

Clark growled. "You can't buy a person. Slavery is illegal, Lex."

 

Lex looked at Clark with an arched brow. "I think Abraham Lincoln only had humans in mind when he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, Clark. Human is something you are most definitely not."

 

Clark blanched again as an old fear rose to the surface of his mind. "You can't own me, Lex.  It doesn't matter that I'm not human."

 

Lex smiled and spoke soothingly as he gently caressed Clark's hand where he'd 'tied' it to his leg. "Well, maybe I can think of something that doesn't involve sex or illegal activities...." The other man thought furiously for several seconds and he looked up at Clark. "You're good with your hands, right? And I know how fast you are. Maybe you could help one of my construction firms finish a bridge. It's nearly a month behind schedule and I'm facing a million dollar fine a day for not completing the structure on time. You help me with that and it would save me tens of millions of dollars."

 

Clark thought about it and scowled. "That would save you money, but what about the employees? What would happen to them if I do it?"

 

Lex stated off-handedly, "Well, once the job is finished, they'll be laid off."

 

He shook his head, "No, I won't do something that will throw people out of work, Lex. Not even to help pay you back. The extra months of pay could make a huge difference in their lives... It could help them keep their children warm and fed."

 

Lex scowled back at him. "What else do you propose then, Clark? I'm not sure I have twenty million dollars worth of heavy lifting that needs to be done that won't affect other people's jobs."

 

"I don't know what to tell you, Lex."

 

Lex sighed and looked Clark up and down. "I know what I want that won't cost a single person their job." Lex gently squeezed Clark's knee. Even such a minor touch sent chills up his spine and caused his breath to speed up. Lex smiled at Clark's reaction and his voice dropped in tone and became a husky, soft whisper. "Come live with me."

 

He glared angrily at Lex. "I said no sex."

 

Lex affected an innocent tone that Clark didn't buy for one second. "Did I say anything about sex? No, all I want is for you to come and stay with me for a couple of weeks. No sex."

 

"You'd let me off the hook after just staying with you for only a couple of weeks?"

 

"Oh, you're right. That's not long enough... let's make it a month. That does seem more fair, doesn't it?"

 

"A month? Lex..."

 

"Oh, you're right, Clark. A month isn't near long enough. Let's make it two."

 

"I'll maybe agree to a month, not two, but do you promise no sex?"

 

Lex held up two fingers. "Boy Scout's Honor: No sex."

 

"You were never in the Boy Scouts, Lex."

 

"Neither were you, yet they call you the Big Blue Boy Scout."

 

Clark scowled at Lex, it was one of his many nicknames that he didn't like. "I don't understand. There must be a catch to this... Why do you want me to stay with you if it's not for sex?"

 

Lex smirked. "We were friends once, but now you only seem to spout platitudes to me and ruin my research facilities."

 

Clark's voice hardened. "When you do what you do, what else can I do?"

 

Lex sighed. "Maybe if you saw me more often, if we hung out like we used to, it'd be easier to see me again as a person you could be friends with. The vicious cycle of me coming up with intricate schemes to get your attention and your destroying my secret labs as you lecture me on using my power responsibly has got to stop."

 

Clark blinked and stared at Lex in shock. "You mean all those things you do... the evil plans you've concocted, were some sort of ploy to get my attention?"

 

"Well, it worked didn't it?"

 

"So you're telling me that even the crazy flying robot monkeys—"

 

Lex interrupted and stated his objection matter-of-factly, "The flying robot monkeys weren't crazy. That would have succeeded."

 

Clark ignored Lex's denial. "So, they were all part of a plan to what? Get me into bed?"

 

Lex sniffed, acting offended but Clark didn't buy it. "Well, if they had worked, yes."

 

"Flying robot monkeys equals foreplay to you? Are you crazy?"

 

He smirked at Clark as the other man's blush deepened. "Maybe so, but would you have come to bed with me if I'd just asked?"

 

Clark frowned. "No, probably not."

 

"See? At least with the flying robot monkeys I got you all flustered and frustrated... You're cute when you're frustrated." Lex looked at Clark. "You still didn't answer the question. Will you stay with me or not?"

 

Clark scowled, skeptical. "All you need is a month?"

 

"No, I said two months."

 

He growled. "All you need is a_ month_..." Lex frowned but nodded. "A month of me living with you, with no sex involved, and we're square?"

 

"Yes, that's all and no sex." Lex looked smug, certain the deal was nearly done. "Deal?"

 

He became immediately suspicious when Lex's smile broadened.

 

He scowled at Lex. "This is too easy... there has to be a catch."

 

Lex chuckled evilly. "No catch for you."

 

"What do you mean, 'no catch for me'? Who's going to have the catch? The witch?"

 

"Do you seriously think I'd let her get away with extorting twenty million dollars from me?"

 

Clark gaped at Lex. "You're not going to kill her are you? I won't let you do that..."

 

"Not much you can do to stop me, Clark."

 

"I won't stay with you if you do."

 

Lex tugged at the invisible restraint wrapped around his wrist. "I'm not sure you have much of a choice."

 

Clark leaned into Lex's personal space and talked in a low, hoarse whisper. "The witch didn't tell you everything about this spell, Lex. Her control over me was spotty at best with this thing...  When I was in that house, I spent most of my time asleep. When I fought her for control, it took too much out of her. She had to put some sort of spell on me to make me worship her and not even that worked all the time.  She had to resort to putting me into agony or making me forget how to move."

 

Lex's eyes hardened. "Is that so...?"

"I'll fight you with every ounce of strength I have if you kill her." Clark looked Lex in his beautiful blue-gray eyes. "Promise me you won't kill her and I'll agree to your deal. I'll stay with you for a month."

 

Lex's eyes narrowed and he sighed. "Okay, I promise."

 

Clark arched an eyebrow at Lex. "You won't kill her?"

 

"I promised didn't I? But you have to promise me no going home to Smallville, except for maybe an afternoon, and no going home to your apartment to pick up clean tights. You do your work at The Daily Planet and do your good deeds, but come home to the penthouse to eat dinner and sleep."

 

"How do you know I keep my spare _uniforms_ in my apartment?"

 

"Never mind about that, will you come and stay with me or not?"

 

"Okay, I will but—"

 

Lex interrupted, "Good." He smiled as he touched the stone in his pocket. "I think you need to take a nap."

 

Clark yawned and shook his head, trying to stay awake. He looked at Lex and yawned again as his eyelids drooped. "I'm not sleepy, Lex...."

 

"You are now, I need to make some calls if you're going to live with me for next ninety days."

 

Clark yawned again. "You said thirty..."

 

"Thirty, whatever...  I'll have Hope go get your spare suits, some clothes and whatever toiletries from your apartment you need."

 

"She gonna break in?" Clark could barely keep his eyes open.

 

"No, of course not.  You do still keep your key under your welcome mat, right?"

 

"Is that how you...?"

 

"Is that a yes?"

 

Clark was too sleepy to glower, even though he wanted to. He simply sighed. "Yes..." Clark's head settled onto Lex's shoulder and he pulled his cape around him like a blanket. He was so sleepy, his voice was soft and slurred. "So, what're ya gonna do 'bout the witch?"

"Oh, I just won't let her keep the money."

 

Clark's sleepy brain didn't quite process that before exhaustion made it impossible to do more than mumble. "...but I agreed...?"

 

"Yes, you did so I got the better part of the deal.  You should have known I was never going to let her keep it, alive or dead." Clark could hear the smug gloat in Lex's voice. "Now, go to sleep and I'll wake you when we get to Metropolis."

 

~:::~

 

The small fridge in the limo that held his bottled water was out of reach, so Lex was annoyed by not having a way to clean his thumb which was still smeared with dried blood.   He didn't want to push Clark off his shoulder so he could reach his bottle of water and a paper towel, so instead he sucked his thumb clean.

 

Odd, but when he did that his mouth tingled... He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the dried blood from Clark's forehead. He smiled affectionately at him, he hadn't even realized it was there. 

 

Lex talked to Hope in the main office for almost an hour giving her instructions. He sighed deeply when all was set and looked at his prize that slept peacefully as he leaned against his shoulder. Lex shifted his weight and gently moved Clark's head to rest in his lap. He wanted to get a better look at the sleeping man.

 

Clark was a man's man, yet breathtakingly gorgeous at the same time. So masculine yet so pretty, he was like a dream come true. He slept on and quietly snored. Somehow Lex's heart, for lack of a better term, melted.   He felt such an overpowering sense of love and desire for this man he wasn't sure he could have put it into words. It was ironic since the man couldn't stand to be near him and apparently hated the very idea of having sex with him. Clark had fought so hard to quell the desire that was so clearly so strong. His very obvious erection had looked painful.

 

It was maddening, to want what he couldn't have so badly and yet have next to no chance of ever getting it. 

 

Lex looked down Clark's long body where he was curled up on the seat next to him. He gently touched Clark's back and smoothed the scarlet cape down so he could better see his powerful muscles. Clark was so strong it defied belief, yet Lex knew that how impossibly gentle he could be. 

 

He'd seen him pick up cars as easily as anyone else would pick up a paperback book; he'd seen him smash giant Lexcorp battle-bots without much more difficulty than anyone else might have crushed an eggshell. Yet, he could be so gentle. Back when they were still friends and Lex would hang out while Clark finished his chores, he had also seen him gently pluck newly hatched chicks from the remains of their shells and place them into the warmers at the farm. In his Superman guise, Lex had also seen Clark gently remove kittens stuck in tree tops and tenderly conduct fragile octogenarian women across busy street crossings. 

 

He had always wondered what it would be like to have such a powerful man be his lover. Would he like it rough, unafraid of being injured? Or would he, such a gentle soul, like his love making to be tender and soft like his skin? 

 

Lost in thought, Lex had stopped caressing Clark's dark curls when he noticed one of his hands twitch. Concerned, Lex looked back to Clark's face. He had a pained look on his face and he moaned, apparently in the throws of a nightmare. 

 

Suddenly concerned for Clark's well-being, Lex's chest tightened. He shushed him and gently caressed his broad back. It calmed Clark and it seemed so natural, Lex taking care of Clark. It struck him to wonder why he hadn't felt this way before now. Previously, his feelings had been almost completely lustful, so why the change? Maybe it was the fact he had felt so helpless to protect him when the witch had caused him such pain and humiliation.

 

Lex shrugged. He wasn't sure why the change, but it didn't really matter. In the end, what was important was that he felt an undeniable urge to protect the man who had quieted and was now sleeping peacefully. As Lex caressed his curls, he was resolved he wouldn't back down from taking care of Clark, no matter what the cost.

 

It would take some discipline, his desire flared up as he thought of Clark sleeping in his house, but he would abide by Clark's rule of no sex. He fought the urge to lift the silky cape to view the state of Clark's desire in his sleep. He wanted to see if he was still hard, but it would probably take all the mental discipline at his command to resist touching it... He'd always wanted to so badly.

 

He felt resolved to seduce Clark over the upcoming month, but it would be difficult if he couldn't use sex to do it. Lex was determined that he would make Clark see reason. He would see how they were meant to be together, even if it took all 30 days of his visit to the penthouse to do it.

[](http://www.statcounter.com/blogger/)

 

 

[Continued HERE...  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html)


	6. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 6**_

With doing my recent World's Finest, [Mistletoe](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/57791.html), I hope people weren't thinking I'd abandoned the Clex, I haven't.

Here is the (hopefully) long awaited update for Superman for Sale.

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Summary for this chapter:**  Lex gets Clark into the Penthouse but it's clearly not going to be as easy for him to woo the Man of Steel as he'd thought.

Part 6 of about 15

Previous parts here:

[First Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html), [Second Part,](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) [Third Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html), [Fourth Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html), [Fifth Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) 

 

~:::~  
 

When the limo pulled into the parking garage at Luthor Towers, Lex looked down at the sleeping man whose head still rested on his lap. It had been a long drive back from the small backwoods town where that motel had been, but he was sorry to see it end. 

 

He'd instructed Mercy to take the limo to the garage instead around to the front like usual. That way it'd be easier to sneak a sleeping Superman into the building. He'd ordered the garage cleared by security so they could get into his private elevator unseen. Hope had cleared the workers from the apartment in preparation of their arrival.   

 

When Mercy parked the car, Hope was there waiting and pulled open the door. She frowned when she saw Superman, still sound asleep with his head in Lex's lap, but otherwise made no comment. Lex knew the two women hated Superman, but they were the only two people he trusted to know that Superman was actually Clark. 

 

Hope and Mercy were unhappy with moving him upstairs still asleep, but Lex felt it was important that Clark awoke to his new life actually in the penthouse. It was difficult, but between the three of them they managed to get him upstairs and into bed. 

 

Hope had pulled down the covers before she'd come down, so Clark ended up sprawled across the huge King-sized bed still sound asleep, the scarlet cape flowed over the side to floor like a red water fall. Hope and Mercy were extremely out of breath, despite the peak physical condition they were both in. Lex almost expected them to say something, but all they did was nod once in Lex's direction before they left the room still panting.

 

Lex looked down at Clark and resisted the urge to run his hands down the other man's long body.  He sighed heavily, regretting having to do only what Clark would allow, and instead confined himself to undressing him. The thought occurred to him as he removed the boots that Superman wouldn't want to be undressed by Lex, but he didn't care. Clark might not like it, but technically it wouldn't violate their agreement. 

 

Lex wanted him to wake up in his new home as Clark, not as Superman. Wearing the uniform would make that impossible, so it had to go. 

 

As he tugged the uniform top off, he was warmed by how Clark reacted. He made small noises of protest and screwed up his face in annoyance, but never woke. It wasn't that Lex had expected him to. The witch's spell was a strong one. If it allowed him to sleep through the painful effects of kryptonite poisoning, no way would getting undressed wake him up.

 

Lex was about to undo the belt, but paused when he looked at Clark's bare chest. That was something Lex hadn't seen since the last time Clark had gone swimming at the mansion as a teen, and it was a thing of pure beauty. The heavy muscles were perfectly in proportion to his frame, heavy, but not the obscenely over-sculpted form that body builders worked so hard at getting.

 

The slow rise and fall of Clark's chest, his breaths deep in his sleep, was almost hypnotic. Lex could probably sit and watch Clark sleep all night, but he had to finish changing him before Mercy or Hope came back.

 

He sighed and reached for the belt but hesitated. Clark's shy ways, even while changing for swimming, had dictated that Lex never had gotten to look at before what he was about to view. He wasn't sure, but had always suspected that Clark went commando underneath his uniform. He'd never had any 'panty lines' under his suit, after all.  

 

There were internet sites that debated the issue. Most speculated on whether Superman wore boxers or briefs, but there were some that were convinced he wore nothing. The few times reporters had asked about that question always went unanswered, save for a small smile, flushed cheeks and a 'no comment', but Lex was about to learn the truth. 

 

The almost inexplicable desire he'd been feeling off and on all day flared up again as he touched the belt and unclasped it. He gently pulled on the waist band and tugged the bottom half of the suit off. Clark was naked underneath the suit. He tried to avoid looking until he had Clark totally nude and what he saw made him gasp in awe.

 

Every inch of Clark was beautiful.  His entire body was in perfect proportion with the size of his frame. Even his flaccid state showed how well endowed The Man of Steel was. He wanted so badly to touch it and take it into his mouth, but he held off. 

 

Clark would probably take any violation as breaking their agreement.  He couldn't risk breaking the agreement, even while Clark slept.  If Clark had been right and the witch's spell wasn't as good as she'd claimed, then Lex's power over him would have its limits. He had to keep to his side of the bargain or Clark would certainly test those limits and would likely leave as soon as he had the chance.

 

Lex had to try very hard to make sure that wouldn't happen so he resisted the strong urge to touch what he agreed he wouldn't and went to hang up the suit with the others in the closet. He opened a drawer to select Clark's sleepwear. Lex wouldn't allow faded, threadbare Smallville High T-shirts and sweats, Clark's normal sleeping attire, while he slept in the penthouse. So, one of the things that Lex had ordered Hope to do was to obtain silk pajamas for Clark. He requested them in several darker colors from one of the top men's stores in Metropolis. He opened the drawer to get the silk pajamas he'd arranged for Clark.

 

Lex liked Clark in darker colors, it brought out the lovely color of his eyes better, but damn him for having such a fondness for bright colors. Hope had stuck to primary colors (perhaps wisely since they were really the only colors Clark ever wore, in either guise), albeit in darker shades. Maroon instead of scarlet, navy blue instead of royal, and a deep ocher instead of canary yellow.

 

Lex stood in the closet and fingered the different colors in the top drawer. He picked up the navy blue pair. The fabric was smooth and felt cool under his fingers and the dark color would emphasize the blue flecks in Clark's moss-green eyes. He smiled as he walked back out into the bedroom holding the slippery fabric.

 

~:::~

 

After Lex had dressed Clark, he pulled up the covers to other man's chest and placed Clark's hands on his stomach, much like he'd done back at the motel.    He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the vision sleeping in his bed. He had to remember to get Hope a bonus. The dark blue satin of the silk pajamas was the perfect color for Clark. He looked stunning and, if it were even possible, Lex was falling even more deeply in love with Clark each moment he sat and gazed at him.

 

The pain of the love he felt possibly never being returned was an almost exquisite torture. He loved Clark and yet it was torture that the love may forever be unrequited. He had a feeling he now knew what Clark had felt for Lana when he was younger. He knew Clark had since dated men and that Lana, his treasured high school sweetheart, was all but a distant memory.

 

He knew it very well since he'd had every man Clark whom had dated followed and investigated. 

 

Lex smiled. Clark hadn't dated much, but none of those men had ever lasted and Lex suspected it had been because they weren't him. The connection he'd felt with Clark ever since he'd woken on the river bank was just too strong to not be returned. Clark's denial of those feelings was an obstacle, but one Lex was determined he could overcome. 

 

'Legendary' and 'Destined' were words he'd used in the past to describe their friendship and he'd meant it, although he'd expected at the time Clark had thought the words over-the-top. Those were words he'd use to describe his feelings that had grown deeper than friendship; words he'd used to describe a relationship he'd hope would grow out of Clark's stay at the penthouse over the next thirty days.

 

Resolved to show this man that he loved him, Lex gently brushed a stray curl back from Clark's eyes. He leaned over Clark, careful to not touch him except in a gentle caress to a cheek. Clark pressed his cheek into the caress and sighed contentedly, still asleep. Lex smiled.

 

Someone knocked at the door.

 

Lex sighed and stood, Clark frowned in his sleep and rolled over onto his side as he pulled the covers up to his chin. He made an annoyed noise and quieted. Lex smiled down at Clark, again curled up like a little boy.

 

Lex called out to whoever was at the door. "Come in."

 

The door opened to reveal both Hope and Mercy, who stated stoically, "All is ready, sir, and dinner is warm in the oven."

 

Lex nodded and straightened his tie. "Excellent. Take your stations in the entry way. I'll call you if I need you." The two women left and Lex sat down in a chair in the bedroom and waited. 

 

Once he heard the door to the apartment open and close, he touched the stone and watched quietly as Clark woke.

 

~:::~

 

 

The first sensations Clark felt were almost like gentle fingers touching him all over. He felt warm and safe and comfortable. For some reason his partly-awake brain couldn't remember, he knew that wasn't something he'd felt a lot lately. Too sleepy at first to examine why that was, he enjoyed the feelings and rolled over onto his side to try to get back to sleep. The sensation of fingers touching his skin got stronger and his desire flared despite the fact that he wasn't even fully awake. He moaned softly and moved to put a hand between his legs to ease the sensation, but stopped when he felt the silk that covered him.  

 

That felt wrong and brought him out of his semi-conscious state.

 

His eyes snapped open, now completely awake. Clark didn't recognize where he was at first, at least not until he looked out of the large bank of windows that took up one wall.   It was only when he saw the expansive view of the nighttime Metropolis skyline that he realized that he was in Lex's penthouse. 

 

He gasped and sat up. He looked down and saw that he wore silk pajamas and nothing else. Clark blushed furiously at the thought of someone, possibly Mercy, changing his clothes.

 

He heard a small sound come from the corner of the room. He looked over to find Lex gazing at him with a smirk on his face. 

 

He tried to ignore the desire he felt just looking at Lex and instead decided to go for outrage instead.

 

He gestured angrily at his the pajamas. "Why am I wearing these?"

 

The amusement in Lex's voice was hard to miss, despite the fact Clark couldn't see him clearly in the dark corner. "I just wanted you to be comfortable."

 

"Who undressed me? That assistant of yours, Mercy?"

 

Lex chuckled. "I'm not sure she'd like being demoted to being only my assistant, but no. Mercy wasn't in the room when I changed your clothes."

 

His desire flared at the thought and Clark blushed and all of a sudden wasn't sure what to say. He decided to continue his self-righteously indignant rant. "Where'd you put my uniform?"

 

"I hung it in the closet with all your other suits."

 

"What if I'm needed for an emergency?"

 

"Metropolis did fine without you for a week; they can go one more night."

 

"You had no right—"

 

"I had the perfect right. You're mine for the next thirty days, Clark."

 

"My being here, willingly or not, doesn't allow you to change my clothes while I'm unconscious."

 

"You were asleep, not unconscious, and whether I have the right to change your clothes is perhaps debatable. However, I just wanted to make sure that you're comfortable while in my house."

 

"I'm not sure I buy that excuse..." Clark's eyes narrowed and he was inwardly relieved that the anger was beginning to quell his desire, oddly the fingers touching him seemed less noticeable. "Besides, I am perfectly comfortable in my suit, Lex. It fits me so perfectly that it's almost like not wearing anything at all. The AI scans me monthly to make any needed adjustments."

 

Lex's eyebrows shot up. "You have an AI that makes your suits?"

 

Clark scowled at the slip. He wasn't sure he wanted Lex to know too much about how the suits get made, but he wouldn't lie. "Yes."

 

"You know, I'd be curious to see how they get made."

 

Clark snorted, "I bet."

 

Lex let Clark's comment hang in the air for a moment as if he'd expected him to keep on talking. He frowned and asked, "I guess you're never going to show me, are you?"

 

"Good guess."

 

Lex sighed and stood. "Come on. I'll show you around and dinner's ready, if you're hungry." When the other man stood, he could see the evidence of Lex's desire. It enflamed his and the intensifying feeling of hands all over his body only made the situation worse.

 

Clark blushed so furiously that he was sure even the soles of his feet were beet red. He didn't know quite how to get avoid showing off his own state of arousal while wearing silk satin pajamas with no underwear. 

 

His voice cracked. "Uhm..." He cleared his throat and pulled the covers up so they better concealed his very noticeable erection. "I think I need to... uhm...." He cleared his throat again and oddly missed his eye glasses, even though he didn't need them to read. His hands twisted the sheets and very nearly shredded them. "I... Uhm..."

 

"Clark?" Lex's voice had dropped in tone, but Clark couldn't tell why.  He was too mortified to think. "You feeling okay?"

 

His head dipped down as he tried hard to think of something to get himself out of walking anywhere where other people, especially Lex, could see his current state. "Uhm..." The thought then occurred to him that Lex was responsible for the invisible hands still caressing him. He looked over at Lex. "Can you stop what you're doing, please?"

 

Lex sounded sincerely confused. "Stop what? I only stood up."

 

Clark was annoyed. "I can feel what you're doing, please stop it... you got me here. You don't need to keep doing it."

 

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

 

His anger started to override his desire. Clark glared up at Lex. "You must. You have that stone and earlier you used it to make me feel like hands were running over everywhere on my body. The feeling's back. You need to stop it."

 

Lex angrily shot back, "I'm not doing anything, Clark. I'm just standing here."

 

The feeling, however, went away. He sighed in relief but it didn't seem like his cock was going to cooperate.   He was mortified at the idea of crossing to the bathroom in front of Lex since he wasn't sure that the loose pajama top would cover any signs of the erection he still had.

 

He cleared his throat and announced, "I'm going to the bathroom." He sped as fast as he could to the bathroom.

 

He managed to close the door without slamming it, and he tried very hard to resist the urge to press his hand against himself.   He heard, without really trying, a gasp from Lex. He groaned when he heard Lex approach the closed door. Clark locked it quickly and glared at Lex. He tried to look through the door, but the wood flared blue. It was lead lined.

 

The other man looked concerned. "Clark?" He gently placed one hand on the door. "Are you sure you're okay?"

 

Clark put his hands on the counter and looked at himself in the mirror before he answered. He looked flushed and sweaty and in desperate need. He shook his head sadly as he replied, his voice far more shaky than he would have liked. "I'm fine."

 

"You don't sound fine." 

 

Clark looked at himself again and knew Lex had a point but the incessant desire needed to stop. He couldn't run off into the bathroom every 10 minutes to relieve it. He would not give Lex the satisfaction.

 

He cleared his throat and put on a more Superman-like tone. "I'm fine. Now, just let me pee in peace."

 

Lex actually laughed. "I'm not sure what exactly is going on but I doubt voiding your bladder has anything to do with it."

 

Clark got angry. "I'll be out in a few minutes. In the mean time, can you just leave me alone?"

 

"Okay, okay..." He heard Lex straighten his tie and walk away from the door. "I'll wait for you out in the living room, but make it quick. I want to show you something and no changing into your uniform, Clark. Tonight it's just you and me." 

 

Clark heard the door close in the bedroom, Lex must have left. He could hear footsteps retreating down the hallway. He sighed and turned his mind back to the reason he was in the bathroom acting liked a scared virgin on her wedding night. He closed his eyes at the thought of sex and tried very hard to resist the strong urge to push his pajama bottoms down and touch himself. He needed relief. A thought occurred to him and he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder at the shower.

 

It was a sparkling clean thing of pure bathing decadence. It had three banks of shower heads and he was sure that every inch would be made clean after taking a shower in the glass, marble and brass fitted enclosure. He looked at it longingly. What he needed just about now was the equivalent of a cold shower. 

 

However, Clark could comfortably walk around naked in an arctic blizzard. He sighed again, this time more heavily. He doubted just a cold shower would have any affect on him, it would take walking around naked in a snowstorm to tamp down his desire.

 

He could still feel the magical restraint that tied him to Lex. He realized that there was no way he could get away from Lex to try and find the most convenient blizzard. Another thought occurred to him and he smiled at himself in the mirror when he realized he didn't have to.

 

~:::~

 

Clark walked into the living room a few moments later, finally free of the incessant desire. As he approached Lex he noticed, even though it didn't bother him of course, a sudden drop in the room's temperature. Lex stood at the huge plate glass window and looked out over the city. 

 

Clark tried to think innocent thoughts as he approached Lex, but the other man shivered. Clark stopped and cleared his throat. 

 

Lex turned and looked at him quizzically as he rubbed his arms as if he were cold. "Hi, Clark. It's nice that you finally made an appearance."

 

Clark snapped, "What did you want to show me?"

 

"Don't be defensive, Clark. I just wanted to show you where everything is..." He walked past him and shivered again. He paused and looked back at Clark. "Does it feel cold in here to you?"

 

"I could walk through an arctic blizzard na..." Clark caught himself. He didn't want to give Lex any ideas. He again cleared his throat, "I could walk through a blizzard at the top of Mt. Everest in just a t-shirt and jeans with no problem. I don't get cold."

 

Lex looked confused for moment and then shrugged. "I'll have to have someone take a look at the environmental controls, but just follow me." 

 

If Clark had really thought he had a choice in the matter, the tug on the magical restraint would have reminded he didn't. He quietly followed Lex as he moved into the hallway opposite the way he'd come. 

 

Lex opened a door off the short hallway and stepped into a slightly smaller bedroom than Lex's. It had been turned into an office, there was no bed. When Clark saw it, his mouth hung open. He couldn't believe what he was looking at.

 

"What the hell have you done, Luthor?"

 

"Now, don't get angry, Clark."

 

"I can't believe you did this."

 

"I just moved your stuff from the apartment over here."

 

"All of it?"

 

Clark looked around in amazement at the virtual recreation of his home office from his apartment. His desk, chair, computer, and even his potted plant that had died that he hadn't gotten around to throwing out.  The only thing that hadn't belonged to him was a small box that sat in the middle of the desk. 

 

Clark walked over to take a closer look, it held the objects from the motel room that Mercy had retrieved. He was glad to see everything there. Yet, when he looked at the potted plant it irked Clark that almost to spite him, Lex had replaced the dead husk he'd last seen with a live plant. 

 

He looked around and Lex had even hung his movie posters on the walls and even had them put into nicer frames than they'd been in before. There was also the shag rug his mom had given him when he'd gone off to college, looking freshly laundered. He looked at Lex in amazement. "You've gone too far, Luthor."

 

"Now, don't 'Luthor' me, Clark. I just wanted to make you feel at home." He pointed at the phone, "I've even had your phone forwarded to the line in here so you won't need to go home for anything."

 

"This is too much. You said in the car that Mercy was just going to pick up a 'few' of my things."

 

"Well, this is just a few things."

 

"No, Lex, this is everything." Clark fumed and shook his head. "I can't believe you did this..."

 

"I don't understand why you're so upset."

 

"Not only did you change my clothes like I was some oversized doll, you've cleared out my entire home office. My computer, every poster, every piece of furniture... It's a personal violation."

 

Lex looked vaguely confused. "I'll take it all back when you leave, Clark. You won't even know it's been moved, except for that plant that is. I really couldn't have ugly dead things in my house. I had to have that replaced."

 

"I was going to throw it away... I'm just going to kill it just like I did the last one." He shook his head. "I don't understand why you think taking control over my life is going to help me see you as a friend."

 

"One thing at a time, Clark, and then you'll get used to seeing me more as a friend than your nemesis. The next thing is dinner." He indicated the blinking red read out on Clark's answering machine. "Before we eat, however, I think you might want to call your mom."

 

Clark looked closer and blanched at the blinking red '42'.

 

~:::~

 

Lex worked in the kitchen, feeling smug. Everything was working perfectly so far. He was keeping Clark off-balance and he hadn't even tried to put on a suit to fly away. He was satisfied Clark would keep his end of the bargain and stay until the thirty days were up. He would have some work to do to get him to want to stay after that, but he felt up to the challenge.

 

He was so happy with himself that he hummed while warming up the dinner cook had left. He only stopped when he heard Clark walk down the hallway. He turned around to find Clark glaring at him.

 

"Everything okay, Clark? Did your mom cover for you with White at the Planet?"

 

"Yes, she did, but that's not the problem."

 

Lex had a feeling he knew but he acted as innocent as he could. "Oh?"

 

"Is there a particular reason that there's only one bed in the whole place, Lex?"

 

Lex tried to think innocent thoughts and hoped he sounded sincere. "Well, there was the guest bedroom, but I had to remove the bed to get your desk in there."

 

"I don't buy that, but I didn't want you to move my office over here in the first place!" Clark moved over to Lex and stood with his arms crossed as he glowered at him.  "So where am I supposed to sleep?"

 

"In my room of course..."

 

"There's only one bed in there."

 

"I know."

 

"I told you no sex."

 

"Oh, there won't be."

 

"You just expect me to sleep in the same bed with you just because it'll be cozier, is that it?"

 

"Well, it is a very big bed."

 

"I'll sleep on the couch, thanks."

 

"I think I'll have something to say about that." He pulled on the magical restraint that tied Clark's wrist and the other man's scowl deepened. 

 

Clark growled, "This is going to be a very long thirty days for you, Luthor."

 

Lex was very happy to have Clark just where he wanted him. He smiled broadly and said brightly, "Let's eat!"

 

~:::~

 

 

Hunger over-rode Clark's anger and he concentrated on eating more than talking, despite Lex's attempts to invite conversation. He had to admit the dinner was delicious but he wouldn't let Lex know that, only giving a non-committal "It's okay" to Lex's query on the matter.

 

It was a late dinner, so Lex said they should "repair" to the bedroom afterwards. _Only Lex would use the word that way_, Clark thought.

 

He sighed heavily as he felt the tug on the invisible leash tied to his wrist. Clark was sure that's what it was, a _leash_. 

 

He was going to be Lex's pet for the next thirty days and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. He'd promised, but he felt Lex wasn't honoring his own side of the bargain. Taking out all the beds except the one in his bedroom was underhanded and had been probably meant to force unwanted intimacy on Clark. He wouldn't give into that.

 

When they entered the bedroom, Lex turned back to him and motioned toward the bathroom. "Go get ready for bed while I change." Lex walked into the large walk-in closet, leaving Clark to do as he'd been ordered.

 

He scowled and stalked off to the bathroom. He tried to think of how to handle this, his desire had lessened considerably from earlier, but the fingers, soft and warm and comforting, always seemed to be touching him. Lex's claims to not be doing it intentionally seemed to be true, they always seemed to be there even when Lex was doing something else. 

 

He remembered back to the last time, was it just that morning, he'd last been conscious and under the witch's control and the nearly constant prickly feeling over his skin. She hadn't seemed to be controlling that either. He wondered at the curious nature of it, but couldn't fathom a reason why that would happen. 

 

Maybe it was just an unintended side-affect from the spell used to bind him to the stone.  Although, the effect did seem to lessen whenever Lex had been angry with Clark.  

 

_Odd_, he thought.

 

Clark shrugged and, done with brushing his teeth, he washed his face and hands. He rubbed a towel over his face and hands, then opened the door to the bedroom. Lex wore a deep purple silk pajama set that matched the set Clark wore. Lex smiled when he saw Clark. He returned Lex's amused look with a glare.

 

Lex just smirked. "You'll get used to staying here, Clark. You'll see."

 

Clark just tossed the towel back onto the bathroom floor and angrily stepped over to the bed as Lex went into the bathroom. He was suddenly at a complete loss of what to do. The bed was huge but if it were just him, he'd lay down smack in the middle of it. Would Lex want to take the right or left side? 

 

There was a small, very expensive looking alarm clock radio on one side of the bed, the right, and there was a small reading lamp and a book on the other side, the left. Lex clearly slept in the middle of the bed, he guessed that was so because of a lack of frequent guests to make room for. He knew that because he had the same problem. 

 

He frowned at the little detail making him feel a little more like Lex than he would have thought. He'd bedded a few men and fewer women since he'd moved to Metropolis five years before. He could probably count them all on one hand, if he'd thought about it. Maybe it's not surprising. Clark felt dishonest making love to someone who didn't know he was actually an alien. Because of that guilt of that profound a lie (even by omission), it wasn't like anyone ever confronted him about not being human, no relationships ever lasted long enough for him to develop a fondness for a particular side of the bed.

 

Clark sighed as he stood at the foot of the bed, unsure what to do. He'd used the right side of the bed when he was with Lana mostly because she liked the left, but Clark considered whether her preferences would have affected Lex's fondness for a particular side. He considered the possibility of Lex actually NOT liking the right side because Lana had liked the left; he suspected there was still some bitterness in between the two of them. 

 

He felt an increase in the phantom fingers caressing his skin before he heard Lex come up behind him. Clark thought about his mother and managed to keep the desire from doing more than stiffening him only slightly. 

 

"Is there a problem, Clark?"

 

Clark thought about it a minute and decided to pick a fight. He wanted to see if he could get the phantom fingers to go away like before. He growled his response to the smaller man. "I don't think it's fair you're requiring me to sleep in your bed, that wasn't part of the agreement."

 

"Well, there is only one bed, Clark..."

 

"You did that on purpose, so don't act like its incidental. You could have moved in a smaller bed or not have moved all my furniture over."

 

"I'm the one who paid twenty million for your release..."

 

"Which you're not going to let her keep."

 

"Well, I haven't gotten it back yet, so I think I'm well within my rights to make sure you stay close to me. I wouldn't want you to get away."

 

Clark growled his response, "I made you a promise, Luthor. I don't break promises, unlike some people."

 

Lex's teasing tone disappeared into a growing fury and the phantom fingers subsided.   Clark was pleasantly surprised his tactic worked, but tried not to show it. "Are you referring to something specific, Superman? Or are you just trying to push my buttons?"

 

"Take your pick."

 

Lex snapped, "Just get into bed, Clark." Lex answered the question still on Clark's mind when he climbed onto the right side of the bed, the side with the alarm clock. Clark hesitated as he considered lying down on the carpet. It felt pretty cushy considering the concrete under it. The carpet and the padding were thick and likely top of the line, nothing but the best for Lex Luthor, but he felt the pull of the magical restraint on his wrist. He wouldn't be given a choice.

 

Yet, he still protested. "I'm not even tired."

 

Lex growled as he caressed the stone in his hand. "You are now."

 

Clark yawned deeply as he glared at Lex and the glare was returned in kind. He growled at the bald billionaire on the bed and got in bed on the left side. Clark got under the covers, turned his back to Lex and, thanks to the help from the magic, promptly fell asleep.

 

~:::~

 

Lex stayed awake for quite some time looking at the Clark's back as he slept next to him. He considered the fact that wooing Clark wasn't going to be easy. Not while, at the same time, he was effectively holding him against his will in what amounted to house arrest.

 

He really had his work cut out for him and considered the fact that his plan may not work any better than the damn robot monkeys did. He was resigned to the possibility of failure, but he'd set himself a course and he was going to stick to it. Lex was determined to make this work. He thought, _It had to be worth it, right_?

 

He sighed and just as he was about to snuggle into his pillow and go to sleep when Clark mumbled something soft in his sleep and rolled onto his back. Lex had a perfect view of his perfect profile, outlined in the silvery moonlight that streamed in from the sliding glass door out to the balcony.

 

Clark was beautiful and the silvery blue light turned his skin pale, making his eyebrows, eyelashes and hair seem even darker. He looked like a Renaissance painting, noble and peaceful yet so masculine, with his full lips and strong, defined features. When he'd rolled over, the silk pajamas had twisted and the top was pulled tight across Clark's upper body, emphasizing his defined musculature. Lex so wanted to touch Clark's chest and feel his nipples come erect under his fingers, he wanted to kiss them and see if his skin tasted as good as Lex thought.

 

Lex felt even more determined to make the alien his. He set his alarm for early and fell asleep listening to the man's breathing that lay next to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 ~:::~

 

[Continued here....  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html)  
[](http://www.statcounter.com/) 

 


	7. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman for Sale, Chapter 7**_

****

Title: Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Summary for this chapter:**  Lex wakes a very angry Clark.

Part 7 of 15 or so...

Previous parts here:

[First Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html), [Second Part,](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) [Third Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html), [Fourth Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html), [Fifth Part](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html), [Sixth Part  
](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html)  
Thanks to danceswithgary for the cover!

 

 

~:::~

 

Even though he hadn't been asleep that long, only five hours, Lex woke probably more refreshed than he had in a long, long time. He looked over at the reason. 

 

It was only 4am, but he could see Clark in the dim light from the buildings in downtown Metropolis. Clark had rolled over onto his left side and faced Lex. He'd kicked the covers off and Clark's legs were drawn up. His mouth was slack and he snored slightly, there was even a bit of drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth.

 

For some reason Lex found it endearing and he smiled warmly at the sleeping man. He burned to touch Clark, kiss him so long and deeply that the drool wouldn't matter, but held off. He wouldn't break his promise.

 

Lex heaved a sad, regretful sigh and climbed out of bed. He pulled the covers up to Clark's chest.   Superman made a slight, happy sound as he pulled the covers up in his sleep and snuggled down into the pillows. 

 

Sudden feelings of love and desire overwhelmed Lex, he longed to have Clark make happy sounds in his sleep as they snuggled together in bed. He wanted to touch Clark so badly, Lex brushed the curls from the other man's eyes even before he had even realized he had even made the decision to. 

 

He heaved another sad, regretful sigh and pulled on a robe. He went in to work in his office. He wanted to work a few hours before he took a shower.

 

~:::~

 

Lex waited to actually wake Clark until after he'd showered and dressed. He could smell the cook's work in the kitchen, making breakfast for two this time. He smiled at the thought as he gently touched the stone to wake Clark up. 

 

It took him a minute to stir but his eyes fluttered open and then looked momentarily confused, like he'd forgotten where he was. Lex saw the instant when he remembered. His eyes became hard and cold and he turned to look right at Lex.   The fury he saw in those eyes was frightening in its intensity. 

 

Lex tried to still his heart, now going a million miles a minute and tried to act calm as Clark slowly got out of bed and stood. He looked enormous and angry. 

 

Very. Very. Angry.

 

Clark took the several steps to stand in front of Lex. His eyes were as hard as Lex had ever seen and his voice had dropped nearly an octave in tone and was as coldly menacing as Lex had ever heard Clark speak. "Luthor, you will stop doing that or I will leave."

 

Lex hoped he didn't sound as scared as he was. He knew exactly what Clark meant, but he decided to act as innocent as possible. "Stop doing what?"

 

Clark growled, actually growled. "Make me fall asleep. I wasn't sleepy, I had slept all day yesterday and most of last week."

 

Lex lamely offered, "It was for the best, you'd had a tough week."

 

Clark roared in frustration, his voice so loud it rattled the windows in their panes. "I'm a superhero, Lex. I always have a tough week! You can't just make me go to sleep just like I was some kind of toy you want to put away for the night."

 

"It was late, what would you have done? You had agreed that you weren't going to patrol..."

 

"Oh, I don't know, Lex... Maybe open up the paper and see what's been going on in the world?  Watch CNN... Maybe try to get ideas for stories or, God forbid, maybe check my damn email."

 

Lex was shocked, he'd never heard Clark swear before, not even such mild swear words. Clark was breathing hard and his face was hard and his body almost seemed to expand so that he seemed huge. Lex felt intimidated and that was something he'd never felt with Clark before. His stomach twisted when he realized how angry he'd made Clark. He felt an uncharacteristic blush color his cheeks.

 

He took a step back and replied quietly, "I'm sorry, Clark. I won't do it again."

 

Clark blinked.

 

He seemed wary and looked at Lex as if he didn't believe him. "You promise?"

 

"I said I won't, so I won't... I didn't realize how it would make you feel."

 

Clark looked skeptical. "You don't care how I feel. Not really."

"Yes, I do. I care very much."

 

"If you cared that much, you should let me go right now."

 

"You're not going to get off that easy."

 

Clark scowled and stalked off to the bathroom. Lex called to his back, "Cook has breakfast almost ready, so I'll see you out in the kitchen."

 

Clark didn't even pause or look around, he just slammed the door to the bathroom. Lex thought about going after him but the lock engaged with a definitive click. Clark hadn't given him any choice in the matter, unless he wanted to try to find something that would break a solid oak, lead-lined door.

 

He scowled, turned on his heel and left. 

 

~:::~

 

Clark fumed as he showered. He wasn't going to let Lex turn him into some sort of play thing he can turn off and on whenever he wanted.  Thinking about Lex turning him on, reminded him of the other problem with this situation. His ever present need, he wasn't sure how he was going to handle this for the next month. He couldn't walk around half-hard half the time, and painfully hard the rest.

 

It frustrated him that it flared up at inconvenient moments without him wanting it to.

 

He swore under his breath as he avoided touching himself. It was a close thing, he needed relief, but he knew if he started going there, that it'd be harder to resist the urge to...

 

He refused to give Lex the satisfaction.

 

Clark ground his teeth and wondered how it was possible that he was going to last another 29 days.

 

~:::~

 

Thinking of his mother seemed to help the desire stay within manageable levels, so Clark managed to finish showering without touching himself, although judicious use of his own personal supply of arctic cold air helped too. 

 

He closed the door as he left the bathroom and hoped Lex wouldn't find the frost on the mirror before it evaporated.

 

He strode out to the kitchen and paused at the door. Lex sat at the breakfast bar and beamed at him with a silly look on his face. The cook, a short, round faced older woman, looked perplexed as she looked at the two of them staring at each other. Lex didn't bother introducing Clark to the cook so Clark took it upon himself.

 

He walked toward the woman and held out his hand as he smiled. "Hello, my name is Clark Kent." He shook her hand tenderly as he clasped it between both of his. 

 

She replied in a mild Irish brogue and she dipped down in a brief curtsy, "I'm Mrs. O'Hara."

 

Clark gave her his most gorgeous smile, "I'm so pleased to meet you." He looked at the wonderful meal she was close to finishing up, omelets, hash browns and bacon. "I can't believe you cooked all this... It smells wonderful."

 

She actually blushed and smiled shyly in response, completely charmed. "I hope you enjoy it."

 

"I'm sure I will, Mrs. O'Hara." His voice deep and sensuous, Clark's tone had made that seemingly innocent statement say so much more than the words really meant, like the rotund little woman might find him next to her in bed if she played her cards right. Her cheeks turned a bright pink.  He glanced over at Lex who scowled back.

 

She almost squeaked, "I hope you enjoy it, son..." She glared at Lex. "Mr. Luthor didn't say what a charming young man you were."

 

Clark turned to Lex, his eyes in mocked shocked surprise. "Really?"

 

"Yes, I was surprised. He seemed to think you a rather horrid man, the way he used to talk. So much so that I was shocked to my core that he invited yourself to stay the whole thirty days..."

 

"He said I was horrid, did he?"

 

"Well, he didn't say those exact words, mind, but the implication was certainly there." She gave Lex another glare, "It apparently is an undeserved comment, to boot." She turned back to finishing up breakfast.

 

Lex glared at Clark as he sat down at the breakfast bar. Mrs. O'Hara slid Clark a plate with a rather elaborate looking ham and cheese omelet with crispy hash browns and chewy bacon. Everything was just the way Clark liked them.  She smiled warmly at him, only sparing a cold glance at Lex, before she placed a large cup of black coffee and a large glass of orange juice to one side of his plate. He glanced at Lex's seafood omelet, crisp bacon, lightly done hash browns, grapefruit juice, and creamed coffee and scowled.  

 

Lex had apparently somehow learned Clark's preferences in breakfast foods. 

 

He ignored anything Lex had to say and didn't say word to Lex either, but made sure that Mrs. O'Hara knew he thought that the meal was excellent and the coffee was superb. She actually beamed at him when he said it rivaled his own mother's cooking.

 

Clark hadn't been lying; he ate every crumb and had several cups of coffee.

 

When he was done eating, he got up without a word to Lex and took his coffee into the small bedroom Lex had turned into his office. He checked his email, over 1300 new ones in the week since he'd been gone, for any new leads he might want to try and take a look at before he got into the office. He sighed as he read a few that seemed interesting.

 

So much to do.

 

Clark smirked. Super powers sometimes came in very handy, even for mild-mannered reporters. He could easily check up on a few of those leads on his way to work.

 

Back in the kitchen, Clark ignored Lex who still sat at the counter, but he had his laptop open. Clark rinsed the coffee cup he'd used and placed it in the dishwasher.

 

"You know, Cook can do that."

 

Clark frowned at Lex. "Her name is Mrs. O'Hara and I don't need her to do something for me that I can easily do. She's your employee, not a slave..." Clark crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at Lex. "Although, I guess that's a distinction you're not good at making, is it? Not realizing when someone in your life isn't there to do for you whatever it is that strikes your fancy."

 

Lex scowled at Clark, but the fury that had made the other man feel had obviously done the trick. The fingers were gone and he felt sure that he could probably make it through the day without having to use his superbreath. He smirked at Lex as he turned to go get his coat.

 

Lex's cold voice called to his back, "Just be here for dinner, Clark. Your card key for the elevator is on the table in the entry away." He gave her name particular emphasis, "By the way, _Mrs. O'Hara_ serves dinner promptly at seven."

 

~:::~

 

Clark got an ear full from Lois as soon as he stepped into the office. She berated him for being ill, pretending for Jimmy's benefit that she thought he had really been sick.  His mother's cover for him was that he'd been sick and had been back in Smallville recuperating in bed.  He'd spent most of the day trudging through his emails and making phone calls and had finished up work well before seven. 

 

The restraint on his wrist was still there and bothered him. He caught himself rubbing his left wrist multiple times during the day without even realizing it.

 

He wanted to delay going back to the penthouse for as long as possible. He patrolled, making sure to visibly hover over some of the more crime ridden areas of town so he could let the criminal element know he was back, but he was actually disappointed when nothing happened that required his attention. 

 

He was angry at himself when he realized that he actually wanted someone to be mugged or be in danger of being hit by a bus just so he could put off going back to Lex's. He heaved a heavy sigh and made his way back to the penthouse. He decided to go back and land on the balcony in the suit. He figured it would annoy Lex, and he was right.

 

When Clark strolled into the dining room 15 minutes late for dinner in his uniform, if looks could have killed invulnerable Kryptonians, Clark would have dropped dead on the spot. He felt oddly satisfied by the other man's ire and smirked at Lex as he sat down for dinner. Lex was alone.

 

Clark suspected Mrs. O'Hara had already left because his plate had a cover and the rest of the penthouse was dark. His former best friend removed the cover from his plate and scowled at Clark.

 

"If you can't manage to come home on time, can you at least change before you sit down to eat?"

 

Clark badly faked an innocent tone, "Oh, does my uniform bother you?"

 

Lex glowered and his voice was ice cold. "You know it does."

 

"I'm comfortable in it, why shouldn't I wear it?"

 

"Do you often wear your costume—?"

 

Clark interrupted tersely, "It's a uniform."

 

Lex, having apparently some difficulty controlling his rising anger, continued speaking very slowly. It made Clark oddly happy to piss off Lex this much.   "Do you often wear your _uniform_ when eating dinner in your apartment?"

 

Clark narrowed his eyes, he wanted to lie but didn't. "No."

 

"Then your reasoning to wear it now seems suspect."

 

"There's no one to see me here, Lex. I live in a fifth floor walkup surrounded on every side by taller buildings. This penthouse is on the top floor of the tallest building in a twenty block radius, I might as well be in the fortress." He smiled a smug smile as he picked up a napkin to place on his knee. "There is no chance of anyone seeing Superman eating dinner with you."

 

It was only when Clark heard a gasp from the doorway that he realized that Mrs. O'Hara hadn't actually left.   Clark turned to see her about to drop the open wine bottle in her hands.

 

He sped to her and caught both her, and the bottle, just before she fell in a faint to the marble floor of the dining room.

 

~:::~

 

 

Lex was annoyed. More than annoyed, he was angry with Clark. Furious.

 

He frowned at Clark as he tried to revive Mrs. O'Hara. He had clearly been embarrassed that his antics while wearing his uniform had startled the woman so much she'd collapsed in fright at the very sight.

 

While Lex may not be the best boss Mrs. O'Hara ever had, he often referred to her simply as 'cook,' but he sincerely appreciated her work.   She was one of the finest cooks in the city and he paid her very well to make him fresh meals 5 days a week and to cook up meals for the other two that only required him to heat them up. He would be very, very disappointed if the fright that Clark had caused Mrs. O'Hara meant she would leave his employ.

 

He looked at her pale face as Clark, who now wore his Clark-uniform of a rumpled, off the rack suit and his thick framed eye glasses, tried to bring her around. He held a cold compress to her forehead with one hand as he gently patted her hand with the other. Clark looked up at Lex, abashed and ashamed.

 

"I didn't know she was still here..."

 

"You could have asked, or even looked. You're the one with x-ray vision."

 

Clark glared back at Lex, looking at him over the glasses that had slipped down his nose. "You're the one with lead lined walls."

 

Lex arched an eyebrow. "You're the one with super hearing."

 

"Which requires concentration to focus, but that's beside the point..."

 

"What is the point, then, Clark?"

 

Clark opened his mouth, as if to answer, and then closed it again. His only answer was another glare and he then went back to ministering to Mrs. O'Hara who appeared to be coming around. Lex was relieved. At least he wasn't going to lose the best cook he's ever had by her dying of fright.

 

The Man of Steel was anything but as he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically tremulous. "Mrs. O'Hara, are you okay?"

 

She looked at him, confused and then showed relief.   "Oh, Mr. Kent... I'm so glad to see you; there was that awful Superman here. I was worried for your safety."

 

Clark was shocked.  "Why? Why should you worry?"

 

"He's such an awful man. I was afraid he'd done something to you."

 

Lex was amused as Clark tried to cover. He was so cute when he got flustered.   "Superman is... is my friend. He's not... awful and he wouldn't hurt me. How can you think that he would?" Clark shifted his weight and shot a quick glance at Lex as he pulled at his tie. Lex was curious at the look Clark gave him. 

 

His eyes were dark and a blush had started. Clark turned back to the still pale woman, concern for her overshadowing whatever his worry was as she continued. "Oh, but he's awful. He's always such a bother to Mr. Luthor, causing him all sorts of worry and even destroying his property. It's a wonder he's not been locked up, the devil.   It's likely only because there isn't a jail that could hold him, which is rather convenient for the man."

 

Lex could barely contain his chuckle as he watched Clark try to come up with a reply to that. He decided to rescue him. "He's not that bad, Mrs. O'Hara. Superman and I have recently come to an understanding. You may see him around here from time to time."

 

"Really, sir? I can't abide the thought, he's such an awful man. A tyrant even, if you please, Mr. Luthor. You said so yourself many times."

 

Clark turned to Lex and glared, he simply smirked in return. "He used to be such an awful man, really, but I think he and I may have finally become friends, Mrs. O'Hara. That's why he was here. We were chatting, reaffirming our new friendship, until Mr. Kent finally got home from work."

 

"If he's such a good friend, where is he now? I don't see him..."

 

Lex looked expectantly at Clark. He tried to cover, as he blushed and stammered, "He... he ha... had to go, Mrs. O'Hara... an emergency."

 

Lex smiled as he helped arrange to get Mrs. O'Hara home safely. Mercy called up the limo so Mrs. O'Hara wouldn't have to hail a cab.  

 

Even as Mrs. O'Hara had told them both that she'd be okay, Clark still looked regretful so Lex couldn't stay mad at him for long. Especially since Mrs. O'Hara said she wasn't worried at all about Superman anymore since he and Mr. Luthor had become friends. 

 

She'd also assured him that she would be coming back in the morning to fix the "young sirs," as she called them, something hot to eat. She inquired what time Clark needed to be off to the office, he'd informed her that he had an early morning press conference that he needed to attend, so he'd need to leave early.

 

She smiled warmly at him and said she'd be back first thing. When she was gone, Lex reheated their meal while Clark brooded on the sofa. When he walked back into the living room to announce that the meal was ready, Clark snapped at Lex, "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

 

Lex laughed. "You are so cute when you're flustered, I can now see why Lois is always so hard on you."

 

"Don't bring Lois into this.  You knew Mrs. O'Hara was here. You should have said something..."

 

"You didn't give me the chance." Clark scowled at him and Lex simply shrugged. "Come on, Clark. Dinner's ready."

 

~:::~

 

 

It hadn't really hurt anything to heat up the meal in the microwave, the meal was still delicious. They ate in silence and would only glance at one another occasionally.

 

After dinner, Clark went to work in his office after mumbling something about getting some work done. So, Lex went to work in his.

 

Lex worked for hours on his laptop, checking the surveillance video from time to time to see if Clark really was working and he was true to his word. He occasionally made phone calls, sometimes heated ones (Lex wondered if he should tap the phone or add audio to the video-only feed of the security camera system), but then Clark would go back to his typing on his computer.

 

The profit-loss assessments Lex had been reading eventually lost out to watching Clark, so he closed his laptop and just gazed at his house guest as he worked. The reporter was so intent on whatever it was he was working on, it was very appealing.  Seeing Clark seem at home in the Penthouse warmed Lex's heart.  He smiled at the screen and actually traced the outline of Clark's body affectionately with one finger. 

 

As he did, Clark tugged on his tie, loosening it even more, and unbuttoned several of the buttons of his shirt. Lex could see the neckline of his royal blue suit in the gap Clark had opened between the two sides of his shirt. When Lex realized that Clark looked physically uncomfortable, something he'd never really seen him be before without an obvious cause, he was curious what was behind it. 

 

He wasn't surprised at all when Clark quickly logged out of his computer and headed, at a speed no human could have ever possibly managed, into the small guest bathroom.   

 

Lex was intrigued by what was going on and was determined to get to the bottom of it.

 

~:::~

 

After judicious use of his super breath, Clark had gone into Lex's bathroom and brushed his teeth and washed his face. He went back into the master bedroom. He was tired and wanted to go to bed.

 

But mostly he was perplexed. 

 

_Dammit_, he thought. 

 

Why the hell were the fingers feeling him up when Lex wasn't even in the same room, when Lex couldn't even see him? 

 

He thought he'd finally figured it out. Clark had thought he only felt it when Lex was in the same room with him. It was different than the prickly feeling he felt when he was a captive of the witch, that seemed to happen almost anytime.  It had been clearly some weird side-affect of the spell the witch had cast on him. Now, with Lex the phantom fingers touching him all over originally seemed to only happen when Lex was with him.

 

Getting Lex angry had seemed to be an antidote, he knew that and it had worked several times before, but how could he get Lex to be furious with him when they weren't even in the same room? Maybe there was some other cause... He'd have to try and see if he could figure it out. If he could find the reason, maybe he could come up with a better cure than sub-zero chills.

 

He sighed and went into the walk-in closet.   The closet was huge, almost as big as his room back in his apartment. It was filled with built-in mahogany cabinets and his clothes hung on hangers made of cedar with brass hardware that probably cost more than what hung on them. 

 

He frowned and debated whether he should wear the suit to bed instead of his pajamas. Although it would almost certainly piss Lex off, he decided against it. Although he hadn't lied to Lex about how comfortable the suit was, he never slept in it. He usually wore comfortable cotton flannel and a soft, worn t-shirt. 

 

His skin might be invulnerable, but he still enjoyed the feel of soft things next to his skin. Clark hadn't really liked the slick feel of the silk against his skin, it was too... sensual. Somehow, it only exacerbated the phantom finger feeling.

 

He pawed through the drawers and looked for his comfortable flannel sleep pants. He wanted to wear his favorite pair that his mother had given him made of dark blue plaid. He got furious when he realized the only sleepwear he could find were just different versions of the silk pajamas he had woken up in.

 

Clark lost it.

 

The anger and frustration he felt ever since he'd woken up in Lex's bed all unexpectedly came to a head. The first drawer he broke hadn't been on purpose, he'd just slammed it closed too hard, but the ones he'd broken after that had been broken deliberately and with extreme malice.  

 

He destroyed all the built in cabinets on his side of the walk-in closet. He even pulled his clothes from their hangers because he wanted to break every single ridiculously expensive hanger into a million pieces.

 

He didn't stop the rampage until every single piece of wood from his side of the closet lay in chips and splinters on the thick maroon carpet. His chest heaved, his hair was wild and the brass accents of the wooden hangers were balled up into tiny bb-sized pellets all over the floor.

 

He hadn't heard him approach, despite his superhearing, but behind him Lex made a soft sound of surprise. Clark turned to him and resisted a powerful urge to burn him to a crisp with a glance. 

 

"What the hell do you want?"

 

Lex looked mildly surprised, maybe at the profanity, but there was an undercurrent of anger in other man's voice. "I want to know what the hell you think you're doing."

 

Clark ignored the question and growled at Lex. "Where are my pajamas?"

 

Lex pointed at several piles of dark-colored silk. "They're right there and there and there."

 

"No, Lex. Where are _my_ pajamas? My comfortable, warm and soft, cotton flannel sleep pants. I even have several pairs, yet none of them are here..." He pointed the huge pile of his clothes on the floor. "You brought everything else, even suits that I haven't worn in years, but didn't bring over my pajamas. Why?"

 

"I don't want any plaid flannel in this house, Clark. Surely you've outgrown that..."

 

"It is not for you to decide what I've outgrown or not, Lex, and my dad wore plaid nearly every day of his life."

 

"You are not your father."

 

"And I'm not going to let you tell me what I should wear and shouldn't wear, Lex. Our agreement didn't include anything about that."

 

"I will have a say in what you wear in my house, Clark. You look good in silk and I won't have plaid here."

 

"Do you make all of your houseguests get their wardrobe approved by you, Lex?"

 

Lex made a scowl as his only answer to that. 

 

"You're treating me like a giant doll you want to play dress up with."

 

"No, that's not it, Clark. Not at all..."

 

He didn't want to hear how Lex was going to justify this so he stalked out of the closet toward the sliding glass doors that led out to the balcony. He started to pull off his clothes, but stopped when Lex grabbed his arm.

 

"Where do you think you're going?"

 

"Back to my apartment to get my favorite pair of plaid flannel sleep pants."

 

"Oh, no you don't, Clark.   You aren't going anywhere."

 

"I'm not going to sleep in clothes that make me uncomfortable just to make you happy."

 

"But leaving is against our agreement. You agreed to stay here at night and that you wouldn't go home, not even to pick up a change of clothes."

 

"Just try to stop me."

 

Lex arched an eyebrow and gave him a smug smile. "I don't think I have to try too hard." Clark felt the invisible tether tighten around his wrist. 

 

Clark was so angry he felt the heat build up in his eyes. He growled in his frustration and sped back into the closet. He came out seconds later wearing his most faded and worn pair of cotton boxers and a threadbare royal blue t-shirt. Lex frowned at his choice of sleepwear.

 

He stalked over to where Lex stood and leaned into his personal space. He was a bit surprised when Lex didn't back up, so he used his deepest, most Superman-like voice that he could muster. "I'm going to go out and sleep on the couch and you will not stop me, Luthor."

 

"No, Clark. You're being a petulant child. You are going to sleep in my bed even if I have to use Kryptonite on you to force you to do it."

 

The tether started to shorten, but instead of pulling him closer to Lex, it pulled him over to the bed. He fought it, but it was no use. He couldn't stop from being pulled over to the bed.   The tether didn't stop shortening until Clark's wrist was inches from the head board. He briefly considered lying down on the floor but, despite his long arms, he thought that the tether was too short to let him. 

 

Lex added smugly, "Go to bed now, Clark. I'll join you in a few minutes."

 

Clark growled inarticulately at Lex before he climbed into bed, too angry to sleep, but given little choice to try. He pulled up the covers and buried his face in the pillow and tried to forget where he was.

 

~:::~

 

It took Lex about fifteen minutes before he was ready to go to bed. He was surprised that when he went back into the bedroom that Clark was sound asleep. He only knew that he wasn't faking because he was snoring softly and his mouth hung open slightly. Clark tugged on his invisible tether in his sleep and made a soft annoyed sound and rolled over onto his side.

 

Lex smiled. Clark was just so adorable. 

 

Actually, in the end he didn't actually mind Clark's choice of sleepwear. In a way this was better than the expensive silk ones he'd gotten for him. The t-shirt probably hadn't fit Clark since he'd been in high school. It had holes and was tight across his broad chest. Also, the boxers were old and gaped a bit in the front. If Lex lifted the covers, he was sure he could get a good peek but he resisted the temptation. 

 

Lex again set his alarm for early and climbed into bed next to Clark. He snuggled into his pillows and got as close as he could to Clark without actually touching him. Clark had ended up facing Lex and they were so close, Lex could feel the other man's breath on his face. 

 

The soft sounds of Clark's snores, the fever-like warmth of his body and his softly mint-scented breath quickly lulled Lex into a deep, peaceful sleep.

 

~:::~

 

Lex was woken in the middle of the night by Clark.   The other man, in his sleep, had thrown an arm over Lex's waist. Half-asleep himself, Lex didn't question the comforting weight of Clark's arm. He knew with how angry Clark had gotten that the likelihood Clark would do this while aware and awake was probably pretty slim.

 

Lex shifted his weight and Clark, still sound asleep, shifted with him and then snuggled his head against Lex's shoulder. Clark mumbled something soft that didn't sound like English and it warmed Lex's heart.

 

He didn't know what Clark was dreaming about, or who, or why he was apparently speaking Kryptonian, but Lex wanted to stay awake to enjoy it. However, his body had different ideas as feelings of love, affection, comfort and safety lulled him into a deep sleep.

 

 

~:::~

   
   
[Continued....](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html)

 

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	8. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 8**_

 

 

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex, friendship Clois  
**Rating:** This chapter definitely is NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary of this section: **Clark wakes up in Lex's arms and isn't happy about it, later Lex makes Clark hot and bothered...  
**Cover:** Much thanks to danceswithgary!

Previous chapters can be found at the index post [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/64253.html).

Part 8 of ??? (about15)

 

 

~:::~

Even though you might not think so, despite his invulnerability, Superman actually could tell the difference between warm things and cold things and soft things and hard things. Of course he wasn't bothered by extremes of the weather like humans were, aside from making him irritable that is, and probably could sleep on ice cold steel without getting a stiff neck or an aching back. Even so, he liked comfort and warmth. 

 

So when he woke sometime during the night, he could tell, even without being fully awake, that he was in someplace warm and soft. Because of this, Clark didn't want to wake at all when his half conscious brain examined the idea for a moment. He was too comfortable and felt safe.

 

The warm comfort was luxurious and he sighed happily before he snuggled down deeper into the pillows. Or, at least, he thought they were pillows until they moved when he did.

 

His eyes snapped open immediately and he took stock. It only took an instant to realize that the pillow wasn't really a pillow (it had been too firm for that in any case), but was in fact Lex's chest. He was shocked when he realized that the reason that he'd felt safe was because Lex's arms had been wrapped around him.

 

Clark sat up straight and cried out, "Lex!"

 

Lex had been asleep, or close to it, his eyes opened and he squinted up at Clark with a confused look on his face. "Somethin' wrong...?"

 

"You were holding me."

 

He looked blearily at the clock. "It's three a.m."    Lex settled back down and pulled up the covers. "Go back to sleep, Clark."

 

"I told you no sex... you broke your promise."

 

Lex glared at Clark. "In what universe does cuddling equal sex?"  He smirked. "And, just so you know, I didn't break any promises." 

 

"What do you mean? I woke up and you had your arms around me."

 

"I was just enjoying it. You woke me up when you snuggled up to me in your sleep."

 

Clark was shocked. "What? I didn't..."

 

"Yes, you did and you enjoyed it too."

 

Affronted, Clark crossed his arms and scowled at Lex. "Why would I do that and how would you even know if I had been enjoying it?"

 

"I know because you were the one who had snuggled up to me and you were also the one who had been making happy sounds."

 

"Happy sounds? What kind of happy sounds?"

 

Lex shrugged, exasperated. "I don't know, Clark. You made sounds which seemed to indicate that you were happy."

 

"You're lying."   Skeptical and embarrassed, Clark pulled the covers up to his chest. He tried not to pout.  "What is a happy sound anyway?"

 

"Well, they were sort of a soft hum mixed with a sigh..."

 

Clark scowled. 

 

Lex continued with an amused smirk, "Oh, and you talked in your sleep."

 

"I don't talk in my sleep."

 

"You might be right."   Lex looked thoughtful for a moment. "It was more like a mumble."

 

"I don't mumble in my sleep either." 

 

Lex arched an eyebrow at Clark, "Well, you were asleep."

 

Clark scowled, "Okay, if I had spoken, or mumbled, what had I said?"

 

"It wasn't really audible, but I don't think it was even English.   It was adorable, actually. Were you speaking Kryptonian? I'd like to hear more."

 

_Kryptonian_?

 

"I don't know what I said, Lex! I was asleep." 

 

"Are there other languages you speak that you might mumble in your sleep?"

 

Clark growled, "What other languages I can speak is beside the point."

 

"So what is your point discussing this at three in the morning?"

 

"You need to let me go."

 

Lex snorted, "Why do you think that?"

 

 "You broke the rules, so you broke our agreement. That gives me an out."

 

"No, Clark, it doesn't."

 

"You should let me go home."

 

"No, I shouldn't."

 

"You're not going to let me wriggle out of this, are you?"

 

"You're the one who made the deal to stay, Clark. You agreed, so I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain."

 

"I didn't agree to sleep in the same bed with you... you were holding me in your arms and, although it might not violate the letter of our agreement, it does go against the intent."

 

"So?"

 

"So, if you're not going to let me leave, you should at least move in another bed. Let me sleep somewhere else."

 

"I'm not going to do that. You're the one who did the cuddling; it was you that broke the _intent_ of the rules."

 

"But I was asleep..."

 

"That's not really an excuse, Clark."

 

"Well, you should have pushed me off or woken me up."

 

"Why should I have done that?"

 

"Because you know I don't want that.... that... level of intimacy."

 

"Is that really true, Clark?  I've seen you making a lot of suspiciously sudden trips to the bathroom for a man who never gets sick.  And before you woke up you had apparently enjoyed the cuddling you're now professing that you didn't want." 

 

Clark frowned and somehow couldn't look at Lex. He asked quietly, "What's your point?"

 

"I think your subconscious knows what you want more than you do."

 

Confused by his mixed emotions on the point, Clark had no answer to that.

 

"Go back to sleep, Clark." Lex turned over onto his side and pulled the covers up to his chin. "Even superheroes need rest."

 

Clark turned away from Lex and lay on the very edge of the bed, but didn't go to sleep right away. He listened to the sound of Lex's breathing and heart beat as the other man drifted back into sleep. 

 

He knew Lex was right; he had enjoyed the feeling of comfort when he had been in Lex's arms.   Clark was torn on what to do next and it took a very long time before he could fall asleep.

 

~:::~

 

Clark woke when Lex's alarm went off.  He didn't look forward to today, so he waited in bed for Lex to finish in the bathroom. Lex gave him a smile when he left, showered and ready for the day. The phantom fingers touched him again, but he thought of his mother and managed to keep from having to use any frigid air.

 

He showered quickly and kicked himself when he realized he hadn't brought his clothes into the bathroom. He didn't have a robe and, annoyed by his own forgetfulness, he walked out into the bedroom as he dried his hair with a towel, but was otherwise completely naked. 

 

He stepped into the closet, when he heard a slight gasp. He took the towel down off his head and saw Lex standing in the midst of the destroyed section of closet with Mercy.   She had a clipboard and an annoyed expression on her face.

 

Lex's expression was one of awe as he looked Clark up and down. It had been him, apparently, who had gasped.

 

Clark felt the full body blush warm his skin and inflame his need. He hastily wrapped the towel around his waist, and hoped it hid the evidence of his arousal.  He was at a loss of what to say, so he was grateful when Lex filled in the awkward silence.

 

Lex tried to act cool, but Clark wasn't fooled. He could feel the heat of Lex's arousal from three feet away.

 

"Clark, I'm glad you're here... I think we might want to take advantage of your little temper tantrum to have some modifications done.  What do you think of me adding a secret compartment where you can hang your suits?"

 

Clark felt embarrassed by his lost temper from the night before, "I'll pay for the damages."  He fidgeted.  "I'm sorry I lost control, Lex."

 

"Oh, you didn't completely lose control. I think the whole building would have come down around our ears if you had." Lex sounded almost affectionate. "I'm amazed at your restraint, actually."

 

Clark scowled as the fingers started to feel him up even more than before. "You're not mad?"

 

"No, not at all.  I had wanted to remodel this closet anyway and now I'll have a chance to make it better for you. I'll have a secret compartment put in for your suits, just in case someone should wander in here.  Not that anyone will since it is my closet, but you can never be too careful." Lex smiled indulgently.  "It'll be okay, Clark."

 

He frowned and sped to the pile of his clothes and picked up what he needed to get dressed and then sped back into the bathroom. Once he'd slammed closed the door and locked it, he didn't need any superpowers to hear Lex chuckle.

 

~:::~

 

He quickly got ready for work.   Clark needed to get into the office early to attend an editorial meeting before going to City Hall for the press conference at eight.

 

After that, he knew Lois would insist they share a cab with Jimmy just so she could rub it into his face that there are times when he can't use his powers to get around traveling in cars like others do. 

 

She will do it obliquely, of course. She will likely talk about how awful cabs in Metropolis are and how terrific it would be to fly around everywhere like Superman and not have to worry about whether an available cab would come when needed.  Of course, Jimmy will wax wistful and agree, not knowing that Clark is really Superman and that Lois is just trying to get under his skin.

 

She never really forgave him for not letting her in on his secret before they had started dating. Not that they had dated very long. He wondered if part of the reason Lois got on his case all the time was because she thought that she might have been at least partly responsible for making Clark gay. He'd tried to explain it hadn't had anything to do with her, but that explanation hadn't really helped at all. 

 

Her needling him was her way of paying him back for that and lying about being Superman, but as Clark figures it, they should have been even years ago. Lois doesn't see it that way, apparently, since Lex was right what he'd said about her earlier: she just loves to keep Clark flustered. 

 

Sometimes he thinks her mockery of him (especially when he is the only who knows she's mocking him) is her favorite pastime. He sighed as he walked out into kitchen as he straightened his tie.

 

Mrs. O'Hara was in the kitchen and when he walked in, she handed him a paper bag and a travel mug. He looked quizzically at her.

 

"What's this?"

 

"Yourself said you had to be off to work early... Since I'd done with Mr. Luthor's breakfast, I thought you could use a hot meal to start your day. It took years to get Mr. Luthor to let me make him a hot breakfast.  I couldn't abide the thought of him making do with just a cup of coffee. It broke my heart to see how little the dear used to eat..." She smiled warmly at Clark and pointed at the bag, "Now, there's some coffee and I put a few things into that sack so you could eat on the cab ride in."

 

Clark was a bit perplexed by the affection Mrs. O'Hara had for Lex, it seemed so sincere, but he was truly touched by her making him breakfast to go. "Why, that was really thoughtful of you, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

"Don't mention it, a young lad such as yourself should eat a hearty breakfast every morn. There's a sandwich made with eggs, cheese and bacon and a homemade croissant. There's also a blueberry muffin and some fresh fruit. I know I won't need to threaten you to get you to eat it all."

 

Clark laughed, "No, you won't and I'm truly touched."  He looked significantly over at Lex. "I had some trouble sleeping last night, so I am running a bit late."

 

Lex scowled as he delicately cut up his omelet. 

 

Mrs. O'Hara was concerned. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, dear lad, but the coffee is strong and extra hot." She smiled and patted him affectionately on the arm. "That should help."

 

"I'm sure it will."

 

Clark smiled warmly at her and he didn't need to look to know that Lex was glowering at him behind his back.   He looked at Lex over his shoulder, the other man was glowering, so he smirked back just before he kissed a blushing Mrs. O'Hara on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

Completely flustered, Mrs. O'Hara was almost speechless.   "Oh, Mr. Kent... Now, a young lad like you kissing me cheek! Jealous you're gonna make Mr. O'Hara..."

 

Clark smiled his most charming smile at Mrs. O'Hara and flirted shamelessly with her. "Oh, I don't know what you could possibly mean... Why would Mr. O'Hara worry that someone might make off with his lovely bride?"  Clark lifted her chubby hand to his lips. He kissed her fingers as he winked at her and if a woman of that age could squeal in delight, she did.

 

Her face flushed and her heart beat racing, she excused herself and headed straight the bathroom. Clark could hear her washing her face, trying to compose herself.

 

Lex sighed heavily and Clark looked back and arched an eyebrow at him. "No breakfast sandwich, Lex?"

 

Lex sniffed in indignation. "I don't do breakfast sandwiches."  He took a bite of his avocado and Swiss omelet and arched an eyebrow back as Clark smiled more broadly. 

 

He left with the travel mug of Mrs. O'Hara's wonderful coffee clutched in one hand and the bag she'd given him in the other.

 

~:::~

 

 

Clark didn't usually take a cab into work, he actually liked walking, but he did that morning. It gave him a chance to eat the breakfast sandwich while it was still hot. It was delicious, the driver had pouted as Clark finished it so he gave him the muffin and an extra large tip as a consolation prize. 

 

He wondered at how a curmudgeon like Lex could have lucked into hiring one of the sweetest people he'd ever met as an employee. And the fact that she seemed to adore Lex was completely inexplicable.

 

Clark had twenty-eight days left of his sentence at Lex's, he was still annoyed that he had been manipulated into giving Lex what he wanted, but he was going to enjoy the side benefits as long as he was going to be there.  He smiled wryly as he walked into the office.  He was very glad he didn't have to worry about his weight.

 

~:::~

 

 

Clark had been right: the cab ride over to City Hall had been hell. Jammed into the back with Lois and Jimmy while she gushed about how wonderful it would be if she could fly like 'Superman' and not have to be jammed into the back of smelly cabs. 

 

The cabbie glowered at her in the mirror and took the longest and slowest way possible to City Hall. Clark tried to get him to understand that cutting through Suicide Slums wasn't the best way to get to City Hall, but the man seemed to have suddenly become deaf.

 

Lois didn't seem to notice and her eyes sparkled as she made him squirm. He fumed, but could say nothing in front of Jimmy and the driver. The fact that the ride took longer than normal because of a pissed off cabbie didn't help any.  He was in a foul mood by the time they got out of the cab, which wasn't helped when Lois left immediately, expecting him to pay.

 

He apologized to the cabbie for Lois' rude remarks before running after Lois and Jimmy.

 

The press conference was supposed to start promptly at eight, but of course the Mayor was late. That made everyone in the room irritable and didn't help that it was crowded. Jammed in between Clark and another large reporter from the competing daily in Metropolis, it was time for Lois to get annoyed. Jimmy had taken a spot with the other photographers in the back.

 

Another bothersome complication was that the air conditioning had failed. It was very hot, so Lois and everyone else looked very uncomfortable. It was Clark's turn to mock her as he used his most fake innocent tone to ask if Lois was warm...  Her only answer to that was a glare. 

 

Clark was glad for an excuse to loosen his tie as he pretended to be hot like everyone else, which made Lois even more annoyed. Yes, sometimes having superpowers did come in very handy. He couldn't resist a slight smile as he watched Lois loosen the top buttons of her blouse and fan herself with her notebook.

 

It was just then that the mayor had decided to finally make an appearance, more than an hour late. 

 

Clark sighed and got ready to listen to boring political posturing, the mayor was addressing a petty scandal by one of his staffers (including some minor malfeasance of his campaign funds). 

 

His annoyance at having to come to this close to pointless press conference when he certainly had better things to do, like cleaning out his pencil drawer, combined with listening to the boring rhetoric only made his head hurt. He was so intent on trying to focus on the mayor, trying hard to pay attention and figure out what tack to take with his story, that he didn't feel the phantom fingers at first. 

 

Or least, when he had thought about it later, it's what he'd guessed had been the reason. Or perhaps, he had supposed, that he had become so inured to the feeling that any casual increase in the sensation was simply beneath his notice. 

 

Whatever the reason, he didn't at first feel the escalation of the finger's activities until the mayor had paused making his remarks to take a drink of water. Clark actually felt hot and sweaty before noticing anything else out of the ordinary. It was an unusual sensation for him and he was so thrown by it, he actually was having trouble paying attention. He could only think about being somewhere colder.

 

He loosened his tie further and opened up his shirt trying to get cooler... He was so intent on trying to get cool, yet still pay attention to the answers the mayor was giving, that he was surprised by a small gasp of pain next to him.   He looked down at Lois as she rubbed her elbow in obvious pain. It was only then that he'd realized she'd just elbowed him in the ribs. Since he wasn't expecting it so he could pull back so she wouldn't hurt herself, she'd badly bruised her elbow. He x-rayed her to be sure, but she didn't appear to be seriously hurt.

 

He looked up at her face as he hissed at him, "Clark..." He was completely perplexed by her actions until she looked pointedly at his neckline and looked back up at his face. She whispered harshly, "You might want to button your shirt." 

 

Confused, Clark looked down and saw blue... Shocked, he buttoned up his shirt so quickly he was sure no one would have noticed. However, as soon as he was done, Lois visibly relaxed and turned her attention back to the press conference as she continued to fan herself.

 

Flustered by some of the annoyed stares he was getting, Clark had problems concentrating on the continuing press conference. Then the phantom fingers got more noticeable. Suddenly, it was like he was getting an erotic message from a thousand hands at once.

 

They were caressing and touching and Clark was finding it very hard to pay attention to the mayor as he droned on. When the time came for the man to answer questions, Clark's hair was damp and one loose curl threatened to turn into the signature spit curl all by itself. He was perplexed when the feelings of caressing phantom fingers escalated into lips brushing against his shoulders and warm breath on his neck.

 

However, when he heard Lex speak a soft, breathy, "Clark," he knew why it was happening. 

 

All of a sudden he knew what was causing the phantom fingers feeling him all over, when the witch only ever caused prickly insect crawling sensations....

 

_Lust..._

 

She had hated him; had hated men. That had been clear. That was why the feelings under her spell were unpleasant.

 

Yes, Clark decided. It was Lex's lust for him that caused the fingers to touch and tease him. Lex must be thinking about, fantasizing about, having sex with Clark.

 

That tore it, the anger he felt made him completely lose track of what was going on but then the lips drifted to his stomach and moved down and he felt hot breath over his groin and the tickle of fingertips across the inside of his thighs.  It was too much, the desire he felt was overwhelming and he...

 

He had to leave.

 

But the Mayor was now taking questions and Clark had questions to ask. 

 

Or he had questions before the phantom version of Lex had started making love to him, that is. 

 

At least he had thought that he had some questions, but his mind was completely blank. He could think of nothing except for the sensations of a tongue and lips tracing a line down his stomach, around his belly button, following the sprinkling of hair that lead down—

 

He stood up abruptly, his notepad lamely held in front of the embarrassing proof of his growing need.  Clark apologized and stammered as he fumbled his way out of the crowded row, he stepped heavily on several people's feet and wished he could zoom into the air, to zoom to freedom and a much colder climate. It was all he could do to stay on the ground and try not to step on anyone else's toes as headed to the aisle...

 

So close, just a few steps more... 

 

He realized, as he was about to step over the last person in the row, an extremely heavy set man that was vainly trying to suck in his stomach and move his feet into the aisle to let him pass, that the room had gone completely silent except for his stammered apologies. Stricken, he looked up to the podium where the mayor looked at him, obviously annoyed.

 

"Am I boring you, Mr. Kent?"

 

Clark felt his already flushed face get even hotter as he felt a blush spread over his entire body. "No... uhm... no, sir.. I'm sorry, but I have to go... It's uh... It's the heat... Not feeling so good..."

 

He pushed his glasses up his nose and turned to look at a stricken Lois. Despite the heat her face was pale and she looked concerned. Clark looked at her helplessly before he again tried to get past the fat guy in the aisle. His foot got caught on the other man's leg and Clark stumbled out into the aisle before he fell hard on the carpet. 

 

He scrambled up as scattered chuckles lightened the mood in the room. Clark hunched over and tried to move as quickly as he could without resorting to using his speed. He left the room and as soon as the door closed behind him, no one in evidence to witness, Clark ran faster than humanly possible to the nearest men's room.  He closed himself in the extra large handicapped stall at the end of the row.

 

He leaned against the wall and loosened his shirt. The lips that had been touching his stomach so tenderly before now nipped and kissed harder. Clark was so hard, it was actually painful.

 

He had to relieve the pressure, ease the pain...

 

Clark desperately pulled his shirt out of his pants and unbuckled his belt. In his haste, he ripped the zipper from the fabric. He pushed the pants down enough to expose the aching erection inside his tights.  

 

He reached into the waist band of his suit and put a hand on the base of his aching erection and pressed, unwilling at this point to do more to relieve the pain. This was Lex's fault. He knew it and he refused to give him the satisfaction of giving into the sensations. However, his anger became only an undertone to what he was feeling.

 

He couldn't give in because he knew it was Lex that was doing this to him. A phantom version of Lex's lips traced a line of kisses across his stomach as he felt Lex's fingers clench his ass.  Helpless to do anything to defend himself, there was no one to push away, no hands to grab, he slid down the wall and sat on the floor with his back against the wall. With his free hand he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He fumbled with it and moaned loudly, in agony.   He had to get this to stop.

 

He pressed the number for Lex's office. Thank god for an eidetic memory or he wouldn't have remembered it at all.

 

A woman picked up...  _Mercy_, Clark thought.  _She'll never put me through_. 

 

He suppressed a groan and tried to speak as calmly and as evenly as he could, but his ability to form complete sentences had apparently left him.  "Lex in?"  He felt the tongue circling his belly button and he barely held in a moan, "It's Clark..."

 

He could hear the condescension in her voice, and she put an emphasis on the 'Mr.' and her voice dripped icy contempt, "_Mr._ Luthor is not available, may I take a message?"

 

Clark moaned as he could feel Lex's tongue trace a line down his stomach and then Lex breathed on him. Mercy made a disgusted sound and said under her breath, "Freak..." and hung up.

 

Frustrated, Clark crushed his phone in his hand as Lex squeezed his ass and his breath felt hot on his groin. He didn't think he could have gotten any harder, but he was so close... He felt like he was going to burst.

 

And just when he thought the situation couldn't get any worse (and sitting on the floor in the men's room in City Hall with his dick in his hand was bad enough), he heard Lois and Jimmy coming down the hall toward the bathroom.

 

Clark wasn't using his super senses to listen to them approach. He could easily hear them since they were arguing the whole way. They stopped just outside the door.

 

Jimmy sounded desperate, as if he knew that trying to reason with Lois when she had her mind set on something was like tilting at windmills: it was completely guaranteed to not work. "Lois, you can't go in there... It's the men's room!"

 

He silently prayed for Jimmy to succeed in preventing Lois from entering. He didn't, of course. 

 

Lois sounded determined, "You actually think you can stop me?"  

 

The door opened and Clark suppressed the urge to moan again when Lois and Jimmy marched up the bathroom to the stall where he was now trapped.  

 

Lois was angry. "Clark, that better be you in there."

 

Jimmy was frantic, "Lois, this is the men's room. You shouldn't be in here!"

 

"I need to talk to Clark..." She banged on the door to the stall. "Clark, you need to come out here and explain what's going on right now."

 

Clark groaned, but didn't voice any reply other than that. 

 

Jimmy sounded worried. "You sick, CK?"

 

Lois sounded skeptical. "Come on, Clark. What's going on? You never get sick."

 

Jimmy interjected, hesitantly, "Well, yes he does, Lois.  He gets sick all the time. He was just out for a whole week... Maybe he's having a relapse."

 

Lois got furious and Clark got even more miserable. "If you're not going to help, James Olsen, then you can leave."

 

The fingers of one of the hands, one of Lex's hands, started to gently caress him gently in between the cheeks.  Clark gasped in his shock and his back arched against the wall as he hissed with the effort of trying to not vocalize.

 

Jimmy's voice was soft, yet urgent. "You okay, CK?"

 

Clark couldn't speak, not without revealing his real problem, revealing that he wasn't really sick. He listened in pained silence as he heard Lois grab hold of Jimmy.

 

"I think that Clark needs to be left alone, so off you go."

 

Jimmy sputtered, "Then you shouldn't be in here either... It's the men's room!"

 

"Out Olsen! Now!"

 

Clark heard Lois manhandle Jimmy out of the room and then she locked the door behind him. The fingers of one of Lex's hands further explored the area around his opening and Clark gasped.  He pressed harder on the base of his cock to try and keep from coming with Lois in the same room with him.

 

_Life couldn't be more perfect than this_, Clark thought sarcastically.

 

She slowly walked down the length of long bathroom and stopped just outside the stall door.   She spoke with uncharacteristic hesitance, "You... uhm... you okay, Clark?"

 

Clark couldn't speak, couldn't risk her hearing the "sex" in his voice.... He wasn't sure how he was going to explain that if she realized... not trusting his voice, stupidly Clark just nodded.

 

He heard cloth rustle, as if she had crossed her arms. Her voice sounded more annoyed as Clark pressed hard against his cock, he refused to let the phantom fingers caressing him and the phantom lips kissing him where he hadn't been kissed for so long bring him to a climax. Not with Lois in the room. 

 

"Clark, I can't see you shake your head. You okay?"

 

He thought he could manage a 'hmm hmm' without giving Lois a clue to his embarrassing problem, but the 'hmm' turned into a long moan as his hips, against his will, thrust up against his hand.

 

Lois sounded suspicious, "What is going on, Clark? I'm willing to cover for you with Perry, but maybe giving me an idea of what's going on would be nice. You never get sick, unless there's kryptonite involved..."

 

Clark just moaned in complete misery. But then Lois's voice became hushed and he could see her trying to peek through the crack between the wall and door to the stall.

 

"Is this some kind of alien mating cycle? You've been acting a bit strange and it smells like sex in here."  Her voice got husky, "Did Luthor give you some sort of sex pollen?"

 

He groaned and banged his head against the wall in frustration. He managed to croak, "Just leave, Lois... Please."

 

She threw something at him over the wall of the stall. Clark flinched reflexively, but it was just his reporter's notebook. It hit him in the head before it fell to the floor.

 

Her voice was harsh. "You dropped that." Her voice softened again, "I'll cover for you with Perry, but please call me later to tell me you're going to be okay." He heard her footsteps retreat and the door open and close. It opened again.

 

Her voice was firm. "Oh, and Clark? You are going to tell me this story and will explain exactly what's been going on, even if I can't ever print it."

 

Clark groaned in pain as he heard her close the door.   Luckily the door locked, it seems she'd gotten a key from somewhere. He silently thanked her as one of the fingers that had been circling his opening, pressed in. 

 

He was so hard, so close, he couldn't think... The phantom lips moved down from his navel, following the trail of the light dusting of hair down to the soft curls that surrounded his cock. He could feel Lex's hot breath on his skin as he kissed and nipped and licked.

 

The fingers trailed up Clark's length and he could barely think. He was going to kill Lex when this was over, but it'd been so long since anyone had touched him and he'd been kept so sexually charged. He welcomed the release he knew would finally come. 

 

Ethics be damned! He might be invulnerable, but Clark still had needs...   

 

He desired Lex, spell or no spell, and always had. So, he had to admit this is what he wanted. However, he had absolutely refused to give into the urges of his body up until now, but the sensations couldn't be ignored and were impossible to fight.

 

His mind shifted as he gave in and let his body just feel... when that happened, his eyes only partly open and slightly out of focus, he could almost see Lex. He seemed almost corporeal, and his phantom fingers became almost visible, the feelings were so real. It was like Lex was right there on the bathroom floor with him, making love to him as he sat on the cold hard floor. He slid down to the floor so he was lying on his back and pulled his knees up and apart, giving into the sensations that Lex was giving him through the magic spell.

 

He shuddered and closed his eyes with pleasure, the sensations finally overwhelming his intellect. He was lost in the feel of fingers and lips and tongue on his skin.  Lex's fingers from one hand moved down and gently grasped the base of his shaft as his tongue traced a line up it, feeling warm and wet. 

 

Clark wanted to grab something, squeeze Lex's shoulder, caress his bare head, but he writhed on the floor. In ecstasy yet alone, his breath became quick, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he had trouble hearing anything else.

 

Without thinking, he stretched out his senses and searched for the sound of Lex's breath and heartbeat. He found them and Lex was as breathless as he was, and his heart was beating uncharacteristically fast. He could hear the wet slide of lubed skin on lubed skin. Lex was beating off while thinking of him.

 

Even though they weren't in the same room and it wasn't entirely welcome (it wasn't entirely unwelcome either), Clark was so close. He wished he could kiss Lex, taste his skin... He heard Lex huskily whisper his name again. Then the phantom version of Lex that was with him in the bathroom closed his mouth around him and swallowed.  Clark's mind narrowed to only sensation and he was lost in it. 

 

He came with an explosion of ecstasy that centered on his groin and made the rest of the world melt away. 

 

Clark's body shuddered with the release, as he somehow (he didn't remember the exact moment) kicked the toilet. He barely perceived the sound of cracking porcelain and water running onto the floor.

 

At least he didn't really notice anything had happened until the water soaked his clothes and hair and chilled his skin. He lay panting on the cold floor as the water continued to flow out of the broken porcelain and regretted his choice of hiding place... A broom closet would have been less wet.

 

Clark lay there for a second before he sighed as he got up and looked sadly at the broken fixture. He was a bit surprised by the lack of evidence of his orgasm. He looked down his trunks and examined his stomach and hands. He then looked around but didn't see where the come had ended up. Perplexed, he leaned over and turned the handle that shut off the water supply.

 

Clark refocused his hearing on Lex as he tucked in his shirt and buckled his belt. His anger came rushing back when he heard Lex taking a shower. The other man was humming happily.

 

He pushed his eyeglasses back up his nose and straightened his tie. Clark's mouth thinned into a line of cold, hard resolve. 

~:::~

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html)... [](http://www.statcounter.com/free_hit_counter.html) 

 

 

 

 


	9. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 9**_

Sorry this took so long, but I had been really sick at the end of  last month and am now really just getting over it... So, I'm glad that I was finally able to post this..

 

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied), Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, eventually NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary of this chapter: **Clark and Lex deal with the consequences of Lex's 'daydream.' (cover thanks to danceswithgary)

See the previous chapters here:

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) |

 

 

~:::~

Lex sat down at his desk after his shower and thought about the excellent masturbatory experience he'd just had. It had been one of the best he could remember.  Then he had thought about it.

 

No. 

 

Astonishingly powerful, it clearly had been the best one he had _ever_ had.  It had seemed so real...

 

He had a good imagination, but he had never had such a realistic fantasy about Clark before. Maybe him being so close the last few days gave the experience an extra element of realism.

 

He was sure that it had been the best fantasy sex he'd ever had.

 

Ever. 

 

In his whole life.

 

Maybe it's not surprising... Lex had been so full of desire for Clark that after sleeping cuddled with him last night, and then seeing him walk into the closet naked, his hair and skin glistening with beads of water. Lex just couldn't stop thinking about the sex god that had moved in with him.  

 

He couldn't stop lusting after Clark...

 

Lex had thought of Clark, his golden skin so smooth and velvety soft and his gorgeous blue-green eyes that darkened with desire so fetchingly, and he couldn't stand it another minute. He had told Mercy to not disturb him and had taken care of business while imaging perfection under his lips and fingers and in his mouth. Afterwards, he had felt far more relaxed than he could remember feeling in a long time.

 

The odd thing was when he was at the height of it, he could have sworn he'd tasted, and even swallowed, Clark's come. It was sweeter than human with a hint of musk.  He wondered at that. He didn't know how he could imagine such a singular taste, but he sucked his teeth thoughtfully and could still taste it.

 

How extraordinary.

 

It hadn't been just his imagination. 

 

How amazing. 

 

He didn't question how it had happened, something to do with the magic spell no doubt, but he was glad because he doubted he'd ever get to taste the real thing.  

 

Despite how exhausted he'd felt afterwards, he didn't mind it since he had felt tired in a pleasant way. He felt so relaxed and happy, flush with love and sated desire. He should always feel this good while at work. He allowed himself a contented hint of a smile as he checked his email. 

 

Not seeing anything urgent, Lex punched the intercom button. "Mercy? Any messages while I was unavailable?"

 

"Yes, I'll bring them in a minute, but...." Her voice uncharacteristically trailed off with a hint of uncertainty.

 

Lex was annoyed. Her anxiety was a buzz kill. "But what, Mercy? I don't pay you outrageous sums to hide things from me." His let more of his anger color his speech, "Tell me what brought out that 'but'."

 

Mercy, seemingly a bit rattled, cleared her throat. "Well, Kent had just called and he sounded a bit..." She didn't finish her sentence and apparently forgot she was still on speaker. Lex heard her address someone and her voice turned icy, "Yes, may I help you?"

 

"I want to see Luthor."

 

It was Clark and he sounded pissed. 

 

"He's not currently available."

 

Lex blanched in spite of himself and stayed as quiet as he could, he looked over at the monitor of the reception area outside his office. If looks could kill, well at least not ones not combined with heat vision, Mercy would have dropped dead on the spot.

 

Oddly, Clark's off-the-rack suit looked more rumpled than was normal and his hair was a mess of curls and looked damp. His glasses were even slightly askew and his tie was more crooked than normal. He thought this messier-than-normal Clark was adorable, even though he looked as furious as his voice sounded.

 

Lex swallowed nervously, and knew he should probably go out and intervene. He should probably try to save Mercy from the irate Superman, but he wanted to watch to see what happened. However, he didn't want Clark to know he was listening in, so he softly hit the mute button. He paled further as Clark continued.

 

"I know he's here."   Clark's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper and yet was louder because he got closer to the speaker phone as he leaned in, getting in Mercy's personal space. "He's put lead in the walls, doors and windows, so I can't see him, but I can hear his heartbeat easily from here. I know he's just sitting at his desk listening to us, I heard the echo of him breathing through the speakerphone before he hit the mute button." Lex felt his stomach drop to the floor as Clark stood up straight and crossed his arms. It was oddly disquieting seeing Clark make such a Superman-like pose while in his civilian guise. "Will you let me in to see him or not?"

 

"He asked to not be disturbed..."

 

Clark's voice was bitter, "Really? He doesn't want to be disturbed? So why is it okay for him to disturb me?"

 

Lex was perplexed by that, how could he could have disturbed Clark? However, he didn't have a chance to figure out what it was that Clark was talking about before the furious man burst through the door, with Mercy on his heels.   His wild hair only added to his madman appearance. In person, it he could see that his fly zipper was broken and that there was a hint of red from his uniform trunks peeking through the gap... It was oddly sexy.

 

Clark's growl brought him out of his lustful reverie, "What the hell did you think you were you doing, Luthor?"

 

He had no idea what Clark was so upset about, but he wasn't going to let him get under his skin. Lex tried to keep his cool, even though facing an enraged Superman wouldn't make that easy. The most worrisome thing was that his eyes gleamed red, like Clark was barely holding back the urge to incinerate Lex.

 

He managed to blandly ask, "Is there something wrong? I'm sure I haven't picked anyone's pocket today, nor have I performed unethical experiments on any meteor freaks."

 

Clark paled and then his hands tightened into fists at his sides. "You've been playing games with me long enough, Luthor. You must stop or I will make it stop for you."

 

Lex's eyes narrowed and his jaw set as he glared at Clark. "Are you actually threatening me, Clark? You need to explain this, since I have no earthly clue what I've done that set you off."

 

Clark's look turned skeptical and he crossed his arms, arching a brow and giving Lex the coldest look he could. "Don't you?" 

 

Lex was mystified. "I was just sitting in here working and minding my own business.  So, no, I don't know."

 

"Tell me the truth, Luthor. Weren't you just thinking about me?  I heard you call my name."

 

Perplexed how him 'thinking' about Clark would have made him angry, Lex lied, badly as he straightened his coat. "Did I?"

 

Clark's eyes narrowed and he got several steps closer. "I know you were thinking about me, which is bad enough. However, I'm angry because you've again broken the rule about no sex. I'm not going to let you get away with it this time. You will have to let me go." 

 

Lex was astounded. "How could I have broken that rule here?  I wasn't anywhere near you. You're imaging things, Clark."

 

"You broke the rule and it wasn't me that was doing the imagining."

 

Lex didn't answer at first. He frowned as he finally had a hint of what Clark was angry about.

 

_Imagining things.._. _How did he know about that?_ 

 

Lex's found that his voice had lost some strength and he sounded almost unsure. "What are you talking about, Clark?"

 

"Did you think about me at all in the last ten minutes? Don't lie this time."

 

Lex straightened his tie and looked the humongous man up and down. He again noted the damp hair, damp clothes, the ripped zipper... _The ripped zipper_. He was shocked at the implications and hoped he was hiding it well.

 

"I know you had been thinking about me... I heard you speak my name." He held up two fingers as if to demonstrate. "Twice."

 

Lex tried to act conversational about it, but he didn't think that he was all that successful. "Well, so what? Yes, I did have a little daydream about you, that's all... I don't see what's wrong with just 'thinking about you.' It's not like that's sex anymore than cuddling is."

 

If he'd thought Clark's eyes were close to setting his chair on fire before, he hadn't yet seen Clark that furious. Clark's glare, and he thought that it couldn't get any worse, got positively murderous.

 

The other, bigger, taller man's voice dropped probably an octave and his face turned as hard as Lex had ever seen it. His voice's calm tone belied the fury in his face. "Where was the stone when you had this 'little day dream' about me?" Clark walked around the desk and leaned over Lex, his eyes flared red and he looked even more enormous. "Where exactly was the witch's stone when you had that remarkably detailed, and extremely graphic, 'daydream' with me as the star?"

 

Finally understanding, Lex flushed in shame. He looked uneasily at Clark as he reached into his pocket for the stone.  He replied quietly as he held it out for Clark to see. "It was in my pocket."

 

Clark didn't look surprised at all. He merely nodded in grim understanding. "You broke the rule of no sex and that means I'm done with playing whatever game it is you think that you're playing. You need to let me go. Now."

 

Lex's jaw clenched as he tried to recover at least part of the huge amounts of ground he was in danger of losing. "I made a mistake that I won't make again, but that doesn't break our agreement. It was accidental."

 

"This was no accident, maybe you didn't realize I would feel it, but you did that just the day after I cuddled with you in my sleep..."

 

There was a slight gasp and Lex's eyes flicked to see Mercy, her eyes had gone wide. Lex had forgotten she was in the room.

 

Lex scowled at her. "That's enough, Mercy. I'll call you if I need anything."

 

"But sir...."

 

Lex's voice was ice cold, "But nothing, Mercy. Get out."

 

After she paled and hurriedly left, Lex's eyes went back to Clark, who had blushed. He swallowed and straightened his tie. 

 

Clark cleared his throat. "The fact remains that you seem to have engineered the whole situation because you want me in your bed, not to... What did you say? So we could become friends again?" He shook his head and sighed heavily. "My continued presence in your bed is only going to encourage more 'daydreams.'  I can't go through that again, Lex. I won't."

 

Lex grimaced regretfully.  "Where were you?"

 

"I was in a press-conference with reporters and photographers from every major paper and TV station in this part of the country. I had to leave in the middle of the mayor's comments. I embarrassed myself and the paper in front of the most powerful politician in the city to go hide in the men's room until..." He blushed again and cleared his throat, "... until it was over."

 

"How'd you get wet?"

 

Clark blushed and mumbled his reply, "I kicked the toilet...."

 

Lex raised his eyebrows in surprise. Clark rarely lost control. He must have been completely engulfed into Lex's fantasy...

 

How extraordinary.

 

He cleared his throat, "I don't think this negates our agreement, Clark. You never said anything about not daydreaming about each other."

 

"That wasn't just a daydream, Lex, it must have been a very graphic fantasy. The stone, the tie between us... It made it was just like it was real. I could feel everything you had apparently imagined doing to me."

 

Lex tried to sound distant and cool, but he completely couldn't hide his amazement. "You felt everything?"

 

Clark clearly wasn't amazed, or amused. "Everything. I don't want to ever go through that again. I couldn't do anything to stop it, couldn't think, couldn't concentrate enough to use any of my abilities." Clark grimaced, "You can't do that to me again, Lex. I won't let you. You need to figure out how to break that spell and let me go."

 

Clark getting so turned on by Lex that he had to rush to the bathroom to jack-off, ripping his zipper and breaking the plumbing in the process, was like a dream come true. He tried very hard to be sincere, but he wasn't sure he made it sound believable. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Clark. It wasn't my intention." 

 

Superman growled, angry at the lie. "Liar. You are not sorry." His face apparently went through several different emotions, but so many in such a short space of time that Lex wasn't sure what it was that Clark was thinking. "I want out of this deal now. I'm done, Lex."

 

Lex sighed. He had been so close and now Clark was getting further away from him, instead of closer. He couldn't let Clark out of the agreement only a few days into it. 

 

"No, I won't let you go. I'm going to hold you to our deal. However I am willing to rethink the sleeping arrangements like you'd asked this morning. Yet, I don't think I can get the changes to guest bedroom finished by tonight. It'll take at least a day."

 

"I'll sleep on the couch until it is."

 

Lex sighed, but nodded. "Okay. I'll arrange it."

 

Clark scowled in his skepticism. "You're making this too easy."

 

Lex was annoyed. "You got what you wanted. Why are you going to question it?"

 

Clark didn't respond except to glower at Lex before he left. 

 

~:::~

 

Clark hadn't felt up to going back to work.   After buying a new cell phone, he had called Perry to beg off working because he still 'felt sick.' After going back to the penthouse, he changed out of his ruined pants and damp clothes and had spent the rest of the day "working" from his desk while he wore an old t-shirt and an extremely faded pair of sweat pants. 

 

Via email, he quickly helped Lois finish the article on the Mayor's press conference. To be honest, Lois actually wrote most of it, and then tried to run down some leads for new stories. He ran out of sources he could call or research he could do online, so in the early afternoon he went off to find convenient damsels in distress to rescue, but again he had trudge back to the apartment oddly troubled by not finding anyone he could help. He stopped a few pickpockets and rescued a kitten from a tree top for a desperate 5 year-old, but no major tragedies had needed to be averted. 

 

After changing back into his sweats and t-shirt, he sighed as he rode up in the elevator to the penthouse. He ambled into the apartment just as Lex walked into the dining room for dinner, at a few minutes before 7pm. Lex looked up at him with an arched eyebrow, but Clark only scowled in return. 

 

They ate the excellent meal in silence as Mrs. O'Hara cast worried looks their way as she served them coffee and desert.

 

After dinner, Clark retreated to the guest bedroom and tried to again to work. However, he was distracted and couldn't concentrate.

 

He leaned back and looked toward where he knew Lex was sitting in his office. He couldn't see him because of the lead in the walls, but he could hear him. Hear his breathing, his heartbeat.

 

Clark sighed. He wanted Lex, really wanted him. The non-sex in the bathroom was probably the best sex he'd ever had and he'd been sitting alone on the cold tile floor of a City Hall men's room at the time.  He wondered how much better the real thing would be if the magically-imbued-virtual sex was that good.

 

He shook his head and sighed heavily as he stretched. He felt tired, but it wasn't a physical sensation.

 

Clark rarely felt physically tired, but the mental stresses of the day often made sleep welcome. It was still early, not even ten o'clock yet, but he decided he needed to get some rest.   He was just worn out.

 

His clothes had been moved into the guest bedroom's closet, but there still wasn't a bed. Someone had rearranged the desk, putting it closer to the sliding glass door out to the small patio, so that there was more space in the middle of the room to put a bed once Lex moved one in there. There was plenty of room for both a bed and his office furniture. The room wasn't that small. Lex hadn't needed to move the bed out. He had contrived the whole situation to get Clark into his bed. He felt used.

 

He sighed and opened up the top drawer of the dresser, expecting to find his boxers mixed in with the silk pajamas and was surprised to instead find his old Smallville High t-shirts and all of his warm, comfortable plaid flannel sleep pants. 

 

Clark wasn't sure what to think, or how to feel, about that.

 

Part of him was grateful Lex might finally be seeing reason, but part of him was annoyed that Lex had forced him into this position to begin with. The deal he'd made in good faith hadn't been made in good faith on Lex's side. That much had since been made quite clear. He was trying to manipulate Clark into unwanted intimacy.

 

Clark thought about that...

 

Was it unwanted? Really and sincerely unwanted?

 

Had Lex been right? Did his subconscious know more about what he wanted than he did?

 

He sighed again. He undressed and changed into his warm, soft flannel sleep pants and a worn Smallville High t-shirt making him feel more normal than he had since he'd come to stay here. 

 

Out of long habit, he grabbed his glasses and, barefoot, he padded out into the living room where Lex had earlier placed out a pillow, sheets and a blanket. Not that Clark really needed any of them, he could probably sleep in the bathtub as comfortably as anywhere else, but despite himself he had appreciated the gesture. 

 

He placed the glassed on the coffee table and laid out the sheets and blanket on the couch. He didn't turn around when he heard Lex enter the room behind him.

 

"You going to sleep early?"

 

Clark nodded as he stood there and silently willed Lex to leave the room. 

 

"You tired?"

 

"I've had a long day." 

 

"Don't let me stop you." Lex crossed over to the bar and poured himself a drink.

 

Clark turned to glare at him. "What are you doing? I don't want to sleep with an audience."

 

He swept his hand in the general direction of the master bedroom. "You know where the bed is, Clark."

 

"The only reason I haven't picked up this sofa and moved it into the other room is because the door isn't wide enough."

 

"Why aren't you sleeping in the bathtub then?"

 

Clark was so frustrated that he wanted to hit something, but managed to restrain himself to only growling at the other man. "Lex, you need to leave right now!" He pointed toward the guest bedroom, "Or I'll move this couch into that bedroom even if I have to knock down a wall down to do it!" 

 

Lex held up his hands in surrender.  "Fine. Have it your way. You know where I'll be." He picked up the drink and, thinking about it for a second, also picked up the bottle, before heading back toward his office. Lex paused and looked at Clark over his shoulder.  He was playing calm and cool, but Clark wasn't fooled. His heart rate was up and his face was flushed. Clark wasn't sure what Lex was feeling, but he knew his casual tone was masking something else. "I'll keep the bed warm for you if you change your mind." Lex turned off the light and then left the room.

 

He growled again at Lex's retreating figure and he flopped down on the couch, angry and frustrated.  He again sighed heavily and found himself staring at the ceiling, no longer quite as sleepy. He rolled over onto his side as he, without even thinking about doing it, listened to Lex's heartbeat. 

 

The rate had slowed from before as he heard Lex take a huge draw on the full glass of scotch.   The other man sighed and Clark was confused at why he listened. The man had manipulated and used him, forced him to suffer through his fantasies thanks to a magic stone, yet he couldn't seem to stop himself.

 

The exhaustion he had felt earlier had reasserted itself and his eyes drooped. He fell asleep as he listened to the steady, and somehow comforting, sound of Lex's heartbeat.

 

~:::~

 

 

Lex slowly drank himself into a stupor as he watched Clark sleep on the monitor. 

 

_Damn you, Clark_, he thought.

 

He poured more scotch into his glass and gulped the smoky liquor.   He was confused why Clark couldn't see how much desire he had for Lex...  Was the man delusional? He had clearly been more than turned on by Lex's fantasy. Yes, Lex admitted that it had become more real than he ever could have expected, but why did Clark deny how it had affected him?

 

It had taken Clark a long time to fall asleep for a man who'd claimed to be tired and Lex figured he was the reason why. However, the other man would apparently never admit to it.

 

It's because he's obviously disgusted at the very thought of entering into any kind of relationship with Lex. He had tried very hard to squirm out of Lex's manipulations of the situation.  

 

Lex mentally kicked himself that his moment of weakness caused him to come so close to losing Clark's cooperation.   If he fought the magical restraints, Lex wasn't sure if he could have kept Superman where he didn't want to be. Largely, Lex depended on Clark's stubbornness to always to do the right thing to keep him to the bargain they'd struck. Lex had broken the intent of the agreement more than once. It would only be a matter of time before Clark couldn't take anymore and bolted, agreement or no agreement.

 

He sighed and took another gulp from his glass, draining it. He lifted the bottle to pour more, but all that came out was a trickle. He'd finished the bottle.

 

He slammed the bottle down in disgust. He didn't have more in the office. He looked sadly at the sleeping man on the monitor. He doubted that he could go back into the living room to get more without waking up Clark and he refused to give Superman the satisfaction of seeing him drunk. However, it was probably just as well. 

 

Lex looked out of the window.  Maybe it was late, it seemed late. The sky outside was so dark.

 

He had trouble focusing on his watch, but when he did Lex was shocked at the time. He'd spent the last four hours watching Clark sleep while slowly getting hammered.

 

It was very clear to Lex, even in his drunken state, that he had it bad for the other man. Yet, Clark was getting further and further away from him the longer he stayed there. Maybe he should just let him go. There's clearly no hope. He didn't want to end up being the pathetic one, trying to make a relationship out of what clearly wasn't one.

 

He smiled at the irony. The fact that he'd gotten in this state watching another man sleep made him already more pathetic than anyone with as much money as he had ever should be.

 

Depressed, Lex got up heavily. He managed to walk more or less steadily without falling flat on his face, but it was a close thing. He pulled off his coat and tried to remove his tie as he went down the hallway into the bedroom. Lex blacked out before he collapsed into the bed still mostly dressed.

 

~:::~

 

Clark woke when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He was confused at first where he was, but seeing the person made him become suddenly embarrassed. It was Mrs. O'Hara.

 

He looked up at her, confused. "Mrs. O'Hara?"

 

She had a confused look of concern on her face. "Oh, Mr. Kent... did yourself have a falling out with Mr. Luthor?"

 

He pulled up the covers and sat up. "You might say that..." Clark grabbed his glasses from where he'd left them on the coffee table and, hoping he looked myopic to Mrs. O'Hara, looked at the clock on the fireplace mantle. It was only 5 am. "Its early, is something wrong?"

 

She gasped, as if she'd forgotten why she had woken Clark. "Oh, yes, of course. Begging your pardon, Mr. Kent. Mr. Luthor I'm thinking desperately needs medical attention."

 

Clark's chest tightened as got up and walked to the end of the hallway. He looked toward Lex's bedroom door, which stood open and his jacket was on the floor, turned half inside-out. He ran as quickly as he thought was humanly possible into Lex's bedroom, followed by a frantic Mrs. O'Hara, who moved as fast as her chubby legs could carry her. Lex was sprawled across the end of the bed with his shirt half off and Mrs. O'Hara was distraught.

 

"I've never seen him like this."

 

Clark concentrated and x-rayed Lex and there was absolutely nothing wrong. He approached out of concern, worried what he might find, but Lex started to snore. 

 

He sighed in relief because it was then that he also smelled the scotch. "Its okay, Mrs. O'Hara. He's just drunk."

 

She couldn't believe it. "Drunk?  Impossible, I've never seen Mr. Luthor drunk once all the years I've worked for him."

 

"He's like anyone else, Mrs. O'Hara. If he drinks too much, he'll get drunk."

 

"Oh, the poor dear.   I shouldn't be surprised. He must be feeling awful about your argument, Mr. Kent. He's been the happiest I've ever seen him the last few days up until last evenin'..." She moved toward the bed, seemingly to help undress Lex, but Clark stopped her with an upheld hand. 

 

"I'll see to Lex, Mrs. O'Hara." Clark gently pulled Lex up onto the bed, trying to act like it wasn't easy for Mrs. O'Hara's benefit. He rolled the other man onto his back and pulled off his tie. He started to unbutton his shirt and was distracted, but then he thought about what she'd said.   He turned back to look at her. "You're sure he'd been happy the last few days?"

 

"Yes, lad. I don't know why he never thought of inviting you over before, Mr. Kent. He's been so happy since you came to stay.  I actually heard himself humming a right happy tune after you left yesterday morn..." She nodded at him knowingly. "And believe you me, the lad never hums." She shook her head sadly. "You've made him so happy. I hope you boys can kiss and make up."

 

"Kiss and make up?"  He was shocked and didn't try to hide it.  "What makes you think we'd need to kiss to make up?" Clark waved a hand in between the two of them, "Me and Lex? We're not dating..."

 

She actually clucked. "Oh, come now, Mr. Kent. I may come from the old sod and be aged enough to be your mum, but that doesn't mean I don't realize how things work... I know lovers who've had a spat when I see 'em."

 

"We're not dating. I promise you."

 

She laughed, actually laughed. "Now, you must think me awfully gullible, Mr. Kent. I know what I've seen. You two sharing the same bed? Mr. Luthor making sure I make your favorites for every meal. Himself being so happy? Then last night the two of you glaring at each other with such black looks. Now yourself sleepin' on the couch? Himself getting sloshed?" She patted his arm indulgently. "You two kiss and make up and it'll make the world right again.   You'll see." She pointed to Lex on the bed.  "You help him clean up a bit, while I'll put on some coffee so it's hot for when the silly love-sick lad finally comes 'round."

 

Clark sighed heavily as Mrs. O'Hara walked out of the room. He pulled off Lex's shirt, which only interrupted Lex's snoring only for a second as he groaned without waking up. 

 

Clark had to admit that Lex was adorable. He looked younger with his mouth slack in his inebriated state. He pulled off Lex's shoes and socks and then unbuckled his belt. He unbuttoned Lex's pants and was surprised to only see skin on his lower abdomen where he'd expected there to be underwear.

 

His face flushed a brilliant red, he could feel the heat of it go straight up to his hair line and spread across his chest. 

 

_Lex went commando._

 

Clark gulped and contemplated just leaving Lex in his pants. He didn't want to intrude, invade Lex's privacy, see more than he'd really planned on seeing, but there was something just wrong about putting the man to bed clothed in just his suit pants. 

 

He put it off a few moments by going to retrieve Lex's pajamas. Lex's clothes had been moved into cheap wire racks on one side of the bedroom, the closet work apparently having already begun. The door had been removed to ease the movement of supplies, equipment and workers. A poly sheet hung in the space where the door to the closet normally went and more had been laid out on the carpet. The plastic would keep the saw dust from clogging the air and soiling the carpet as the workers came and went. 

 

Clark lifted the sheeting and peeked into the closet. The workers had put up the framework of the new cabinets, but the facing hadn't been put in yet. Although the work hadn't been finished, Clark could see the new design was superior over the older one. It was more efficient and made even better use of the humongous closet so that storage capability was maximized. His knowledge of woodworking gained through growing up on a farm gave Clark an appreciation of carpentry that was well done. He was impressed with the quality of the design and the speed of how fast they'd progressed.

 

He looked at the side of the closet that would have been his and scowled when he saw the roughed in shape of the promised secret compartment.   With a glance he realized just how perfect it would be... there was a shelf on the floor for his boots and it promised plenty of space for his suits. 

 

Clark glanced over at his shoulder at the still snoring Lex. He shook his head, torn whether to feel frustrated or touched that Lex had that much hope for Clark staying here long enough to need a secret compartment in the closet.

 

He sighed heavily and got Lex's pajamas from the shelf.

 

When he got back to the bed he found Lex sprawled over the bed. He was snoring more loudly than before, his mouth slack. Clark really hoped he wouldn't wake up while he changed him into his pajamas. 

 

He reached over to Lex's waist and hesitated. He really didn't want to do this, but took a deep breath and added some speed and quickly got Lex naked. He tried to avoid looking, but his eyes were drawn to Lex's nether region when he was pulling up his pajama bottoms. Despite the absence of the magic fingers that arose from Lex's lust for him, he found himself struck with a profound desire to do more than just look.

 

The man was completely hairless, except for his eyebrows and eyelashes. Lex's lack of hair made his smooth, silky skin look like fine porcelain. His torso was well-defined, Lex has obviously kept himself in good shape, so the lack of hair didn't make him look young or childlike. Instead, it made him look more like a sculpture, a piece of art... Clark had to resist the urge to touch before he finished pulling the bottoms up fully.   He managed to get the top on and started to button it before the drunken billionaire woke. His eyes were glassy and out of focus.

 

Lex wasn't quite sober and slurred his words. "You change your min'?"

 

"No, you got drunk and I helped get you into bed." He finished buttoning up Lex's pajama top and then pulled the covers up to Lex's chest. "Mrs. O'Hara found your jacket out in the hallway and then found you half dressed on the bed. She was worried about you." He looked at Lex with concern, "Would you like a glass of water?"

 

"No, jus' more scotch..."

 

"I don't think that's a good idea... Just go back to sleep."

 

"Not sleepy... Stay?"

 

Clark couldn't withhold the snort. "Stay? I'm not going to stay, Lex. I have to get ready for work." He turned to leave, but Lex started to get out of bed. Clark held him easily with one hand on his shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

 

"Gotta work too..."

 

"You can't go to work, Lex. Not now, not anytime soon."

 

The other man looked up at him, bewildered. "You're going..."

 

Clark shook his head. Lex was being stubborn and tried to stand, but wobbled and fell back onto the bed. "You can't stand much less string together a complete sentence, how could you possibly work?"

 

He looked up sadly at Clark. "Oh..." Lex leaned back into the pillows and grimaced, putting his hand to his head.  "Yeah... prolly not a good idea..."

 

"Do you have a headache?"

 

Lex nodded and replied softly, "Yeah."

 

"I'll get you some water and some Advil." Clark went into the bathroom and rooted through the medicine cabinet until he found what he needed. He ran the cold water to make it as cold as possible and then filled a glass.   He went back out to the bedroom and had to shake Lex awake. He looked up at him confused.

 

"Lex, can you sit up a bit so you can drink?" Lex nodded and did, but he closed his eyes in an apparent wave of nausea. 

 

"Here... hold out your hand." Lex complied and Clark shook a couple of pills out of the bottle onto his palm. Lex popped them into his mouth and took the glass from Clark's hand. 

 

He swallowed, but grimaced. "No ice water?"

 

Clark, mildly annoyed, scowled as he took the glass back. He turned his head away from Lex so he wouldn't make him cold and gently blew on the glass. He handed it back and the glass sparkled with frost. "Better?"

 

Lex took a sip, amazed. "Yeah..." He sipped again and put the glass down.   He leaned back down on the pillows, nearly about to fall asleep. He groaned. "Drank too much."

 

"Why did you?"

 

Lex just opened his eyes and looked sadly at him. He shrugged as his only answer.

 

Clark sighed. "You drink, Lex, but normally you don't get drunk. This isn't like you, as Mrs. O'Hara had said.  Why'd you do it?"

 

Lex slurred his response. "Don'tcha know?"

 

Clark was perplexed. "No, I don't know."

 

Lex shook his head sadly and rolled over onto his side. He closed his eyes and sighed. "S'no use..." Lex actually had tears well up. "Nomatter wha', you hate me."

 

Clark replied softly, "I don't hate you Lex. I could never hate you..."

 

Lex mumbled, barely awake, "But you won' ever love me."

 

He didn't have anything to say to that. Clark just looked at Lex as the other man mumbled, "I love you," before he drifted off to sleep. 

 

Clark just sat there for several minutes, stunned.  

 

Love? How could it be love? Lex lusted for him, that much he knew, he'd felt the proof of that lust on the bathroom floor just the day before.

 

How could it be love? 

 

Lex had manipulated to get him into his bed and had toyed with him as Superman for so long. In what universe does that equal love?

 

Confused, he watched Lex sleep for several minutes, but sighed heavily when he glanced over at the clock and saw the time. He had to get ready for work. He pulled the covers up over Lex and he couldn't help but look affectionately at the sleeping man.  

 

He had to resist a strong urge to gently caress his cheek, so smooth and perfect, or kiss Lex's forehead, but Clark held back.  

 

He managed to avoid touching Lex again before he got up and walked out the door, but it was a very close thing.

 

~:::~

 

 

[Continued here...](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html)

 

 

 

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	10. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
exhausted  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 10**_

Okay, this is shorter than normal, but I think I leave it at a good breaking point. (Or an evil one, depending on your view point.)

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:** 3,608 (**Story, thus far:** 46,210)  
**Short summary of this chapter: **Clark and Lex both consider the ramifications of Lex's drunken confession. (cover thanks to [](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/profile)[**danceswithgary**](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/))

See the previous chapters here:

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) |

10 of possibly 15... 

~:::~

Clark yanked on the partially open door to Lex's bedroom and was very surprised to find Mrs. O'Hara standing just outside. She held Lex's suit jacket and had been leaning forward, as if listening to something. He looked back at Lex and his eyes swung back to Mrs. O'Hara. She must have had a perfect view of Lex on the bed through the partially open door.

 

He looked at her with wide eyes, shocked that she had been eavesdropping. "Mrs. O'Hara?"

 

She blushed and laughed nervously.  "Well, Mr. Kent. I had been so flustered after leaving poor Mr. Luthor in that state, the poor lad, I clear forgot to pick up his coat. I put the pot on and remembered..." She shot him a sheepish look, as if she wasn't sure how good the lie was, but she kept going. "Didn't want such an expensive jacket to get all wrinkled and smudged with dirt."

 

And Clark knew she was lying, her face was flushed and her heartbeat was nearly double her normal rate. She had been eavesdropping and was embarrassed by being caught.

 

He decided to let her have the comfort of the falsehood, as he mentally kicked himself for being too distracted to realize she had been there. He worried about how much she'd overheard, "That is perfectly understandable, Mrs. O'Hara. Well, I'm going to go get ready for work."

 

She brightened at that and smiled a bright, happy smile. "Oh, what a dear lad! I'll get your breakfast ready and the coffee should be done now, if you want a cup before you shower."

 

Clark couldn't help but smile at her cheery manner, "That would be wonderful, Mrs. O'Hara. I wouldn't mind if I do."

 

He followed her to the kitchen and she poured him a cup. He saw that she already had the ingredients for a bacon and cheese omelet with onions and mushrooms all ready to go.  He thanked her, took a sip of the wonderful coffee and nodded at her before he left to take his shower in the guest bathroom.

 

As Clark got undressed, he heard bacon frying and her mumbling to herself in the kitchen. _"He's such a good lad. I'm glad he finally knows how much Mr. Luthor loves him, now that the lovesick lad has confessed his love. They'll kiss and make-up now for sure..."_

 

Clark got into the shower with a groan.

 

~:::~

 

After another delicious breakfast, Clark left the table satisfied. He told the beaming Mrs. O'Hara that he looked forward to dinner and would see her then. She blushed when he took her hand and kissed her chubby fingers.

 

On the way out of Lex's apartment, Clark got the usual sneer from Mercy. That seemed to be SOP for Lex's bodyguards since Hope also sneered whenever she was there.   Clark felt oddly pleased to make her uncomfortable when he approached her. He informed her that Lex wasn't feeling well and that his appointments for the day would need to be rescheduled.

 

She scowled at him as she entered the apartment, apparently not believing him. 

 

Contemplative and broody, Clark walked slowly to work. 

 

How could Lex love him?

 

The deal to make him stay, forcing him to sleep on the same bed, the non-sex in the City Hall bathroom, and all of his not-so-subtle hints he wanted Clark only acted as proof of his lust, right? 

 

How could someone who loved him do that? How could someone who loved him put him through that humiliation in front of his peers? How could someone subject him to all that, even force such painful and mindless need on him, and still claim to love him?

 

He'd known for a long time that Lex had wanted him, lusted after him, and had since Clark had been a teen. He had mostly oblivious to the fact at the time, being very naïve back then, but after Clark had gotten older and had thought about it he'd known that Lex's serious looks in his direction had been likely due to lust.

 

When he'd realized it, Clark had also realized that had things gone differently for them, had they still been friends, maybe he would have let it go its natural course. After his on-again, off-again relationship with Lana had finally failed and the one with Lois had gotten nowhere quick, he might have considered Lex again. After Lois, he'd dated a few men, but they had never worked out.

 

Had he and Lex had still been friends he might have made an overture, but by the time Clark had accepted girls weren't for him it had been too late. Lex had been in full-on evil-doer mode by then and he'd had made a hobby of busting up Lex's labs as he spouted moralistic platitudes.

 

Although, Clark was encouraged by Lex apparently being happier now than he had used to be.  Clark was hopeful that he'd changed, that maybe Lex's drunken protestations of love, were sincere and there was a chance they could work it out.  Love conquered all, didn't it? However, it was troubling Lex was so happy even while Clark was almost his literal captive.

 

Clark felt so conflicted and confused.

 

Clark wasn't sure what he was going to do. How could they possibly go back to where they were capable of a relationship? Could he really forget all that Lex had done? Could he ignore the money and the death threats he'd made against the witch?

 

He sighed heavily. 

 

What if Lex's confession had been just a fantasy?  Maybe it had just been a drunken declaration that Lex hadn't meant, not really. He understood that sometimes people said things they didn't mean when they had been drinking. Not that he would know, of course, since he couldn't get drunk, but it was possible.  Maybe he could wait to see if Lex brings it up, or possibly explains.

 

He scowled as he entered The Daily Planet's side entrance, not looking forward to the next time he'd see Lex. 

 

Dinner that night promised to be a very, very uncomfortable meal filled with extremely awkward silences. Even more so if Mrs. O'Hara decided to butt in, which Clark had a feeling she would. She wanted to help them 'kiss and make-up' after all.

 

He punched the button for the elevator too hard and thought that maybe the plastic had cracked under the pressure.   He frowned at it as he examined it with his x-ray vision. The plastic was cracked, but still in one piece, if only barely.

 

Clark sighed in relief and pushed his glasses back up his nose as he waited for the car to come down. He had broken three of those buttons just last month. He was sure the head of building maintenance had suspected something was up with him since he'd gotten some distrustful glares from the man lately.

 

He nodded at a guy he knew from Sports as he came up and waited with him for the car. Chet, a bruiser ex-football player who (in the latter half of his forties) spent way too much time in the gym, nodded back with a barely concealed look of contempt. Clark wished he could fry him to a crisp as the other man delivered a brutal and (since Clark had already pressed it) an unnecessary poke to the elevator button. 

 

The plastic shattered, as if on cue, just as the head maintenance man had walked behind them.

 

Clark didn't bother to try and contain the smile at the man's embarrassment as the bully withered under the maintenance chief's angry harangue. He happily left the lummox to argue with the head janitor over who was going to pay.

 

~:::~

 

 

Lois frowned at him as soon as he entered the bullpen. Clark was perplexed as he sat down to log into his computer.

 

He tried to ignore it, ignore her, but he became concerned that Lois' stare had something to do with the disastrous press conference the day before. Despite not getting any reaction out of him, she kept intently staring at him. It was actually disturbing. 

 

He gave up ignoring her and asked, exasperated, "Is there something wrong, Lois?"

 

She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. "I think that's what I should be asking you, Smallville."

 

Clark frowned. "If you're referring to what happened at City Hall, I don't really want to talk about it."

 

Lois pushed back from her desk and got up, walked around to lean against Clark's desk. "It wasn't what had happened yesterday morning that has me perplexed, although like what I'd told you, that is something I will expect you to eventually explain."

 

"Then what, Lois?" He dropped his voice dropped down to a harsh whisper, "The last time I checked, reading minds wasn't one of my abilities."

 

"Okay, I'll ask with small words so you can understand." Clark scowled at her as she looked Clark directly in his eyes, "Where were you yesterday?"

 

Clark looked away and straightened his tie. "I wasn't feeling well so I went home, like I told you in that email... like I told Perry on the phone...."

 

She made a face and leaned back again.  "Yeah, right.  Even if I didn't already know that you never really get sick, you should try lying to someone who doesn't know your tells."

 

Clark scowled. "I don't have tells."

 

Lois snorted, "Yeah, you do. When you lie, I always know. You do it the same way every time. You look down and to the left.   When you have a suit on, you straighten your tie, like you just did." She leaned in close and whispered, "When you have your other suit on you play with the cape or the belt before flying away." She crossed her arms and leaned back, "Even if I hadn't already known that you weren't home last night, I could tell just now that you were lying, Clark."

 

Clark wasn't sure how to reply to this, he hadn't been at home, but he knew any calls to his home number went to Lex's. "How do you know I wasn't home? You didn't call."

 

"Clark, you live in that fifth story walk-up on Clinton. Or at least you used to." She leaned forward and whispered, "I went over there to check on you last night and you didn't answer the door. I knocked and rang and not a peep. Initially it probably wasn't surprising, considering your uh... extracurricular activities, but one of your neighbors heard me and told me that he hadn't seen you in weeks." She arched an eyebrow as Clark blushed, caught. "Curious at what could possibly be going on, I went in."

 

"What gives you the right to just—"

 

She interrupted, "The right of a friend who's concerned for your well-being."

 

Clark arched an eyebrow back at her, "Okay, how did you get in?"

 

She shook her head sadly. "Clark, putting your key under your doormat isn't the smartest place to hide it."

 

Clark scowled and whispered harshly back, "Okay, so you know now that I wasn't home. Do I really need to give you an itinerary of what I do with my free time?"

 

"No, not at all... I don't need to know where you are every minute of the day, although the occasional memo explaining some of the strange things you do might be nice." 

 

"What strange things?"

 

She leaned in closer, "Like why your office furniture had been cleaned out and all of your clothes are gone." 

 

Clark fidgeted and stammered, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Eh... It... it's sorta hard to explain, Lois..."

 

She smirked at him. "Oh, I bet..." She then lowered her voice to a whisper, "Even your _secret _closet was empty. However, what I find most interesting is that a woman matching the description of one of Luthor's bodyguards was seen taking several garment bags and a large suitcase out of your apartment. Then, what is even more perplexing than one of your sworn enemy's Amazonian thugs packing up your clothes and carting them off is the fact that several large, and heavily muscled, men wearing Lexcorp uniforms moved out your furniture."

 

All he could do was look up at her helplessly, at a complete loss of what to say.   He didn't want to tell her a thing about Lex's deal, but he wasn't sure what lie he could think of that would cover all of this.

 

Lois's hard edged look softened to something else, true concern. "Clark, you gotta tell me what's going on... I'm worried about you. What happened at City Hall looks to be just the tip of the iceberg."

 

Clark sighed. He shook his head and started to try and put her off, think of some lie, but he heard something.   There were people in danger, a multiple-car pile up over on I-70.

 

He quickly told Lois that he had to go. She called after him, yelling that the conversation wasn't over and she would find out what was going on. He left the office via the stairwell that led to the roof and was in his suit before he burst through the door at the top of the steps.

 

His lips thinned into a grim line as he shot off into the sky to help save lives.

 

~:::~

 

Lex woke up with probably the worst headache he'd ever had.  He was confused. He was in bed and dressed in his pajamas, but he didn't remember how that had happened. 

 

The last thing he remembered was drinking himself stupid while looking at Clark sleep. He looked out of the window and the sun was too high in the sky, it was far later than he normally woke up. He looked at the clock. He realized with horror that it was past noon, he should be at work.

 

He realized he must have gotten drunker than he'd intended the night before, but how did he get into bed?

 

He searched his memory and he still didn't remember changing or going to bed, and his mind only provided hazy details on talking to Clark and him getting Lex water and painkillers.  Lex remembered that Clark had been looking very serious so they must have talked about something important.

 

His mind couldn't drag the memory clear of the fog that was his mind, and he shrugged and took a shower. He had to get into work, but didn't want to smell like he'd been drinking all night (even though he had been).

 

~:::~

 

 

Dressed and feeling better now he was showered, Lex strolled into the kitchen to see what cook, or rather Mrs. O'Hara, had fixed for him. He didn't have much of an appetite.

 

Lex was touched when she anticipated that and had offered only an unusually large cup of black coffee and an order of lightly buttered toast. She smiled, "That's from a fresh pot. Heard the shower going and figured you might need it."

 

"Thank you, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

"I'll do what I can to help you feel better." She placed a small plate with two Advil and a glass of ice cold water in front of Lex. "You know, Mr. Kent was really worried about you."

 

Lex's eyebrows rose in surprise as he swallowed the pills. He looked over at her. "He was?"

 

"Yes, the dear lad... he's really such a dear boy, I don't know why it took you so long to invite him to stay.  He's been what you needed, he's made you happy. Then when you were down in your cups, he took care of you, but seemed surprised when you confessed your love. "

 

Lex looked at her in surprise. "I told Clark I loved him?"

 

"Yes, and it was about time you did too. Although, it was like he'd never heard you say it before." Her tone switched to a lecturing one, "You need be more forthcoming with Mr. Kent, tell him you love him more often, make sure he knows how much you care for him, or it'll be harder for you two dear lads to kiss and make-up."

 

Lex's only answer to that was to sip his coffee and nibble his toast thoughtfully. 

 

~:::~

 

Clark was tired. All he wanted to do was just go home and sleep, even if "home" for him right now was Lex's penthouse and his bed promised to be a lonely one.

 

It seemed it was one emergency after another today, dozens of cars piled up in the morning fog on I-70, an armed bank heist with dozens of civilians held at gun point, then this apartment fire. 

 

Exhausted, he handed the last of the survivors over to paramedics. 

 

He'd pulled dozens from the burning high rise apartment building and thankfully no lives had been lost, at least not yet. Several of the injured were in critical condition. Some had been so badly hurt that he'd taken them directly to Metropolis General's Emergency Room, only for them to be immediately taken to the burn unit or ICU.

 

He looked for a clock or watch in the waning daylight, his watch was back with his suit in its hiding place in the stairwell of the Planet building. He found a clock in a nearby bank and it was close to seven. It was nearly time for his uncomfortable dinner with Lex and he dreaded it. As he flew away, he thought of how he was going to write up Superman's heroism for front-page tomorrow. 

 

He had just landed on the roof of the Daily Planet, ready to pick up his suit from where he'd hidden it in the stairwell when he heard a roar of rushing water on the other side of the world and untold thousands scream and run in fright. 

 

All worries about what to do about Lex vanished from his mind as he headed west to help those in need.

 

~:::~

 

Lex looked out onto the darkening Metropolis night, worried. It was well past seven, almost half past, and Clark still hadn't shown up. Uncharacteristically, Lex had downed his second drink before dinner and went over to get more.

 

He could hear Mrs. O'Hara in the kitchen doing busy work while she waited to serve dinner. Lex had a feeling that dinner wasn't going to be happening.

He was sure that it'd been too much, his telling Clark he loved him. He'd been shown time and time again that honesty never worked. In his inebriated state, he'd told Clark something he barely accepted when he was sober, but he knew that it was true. He loved Clark, truly loved him.

 

Lex wasn't sure when the lust he'd always felt for Clark, his creamy complexion, his steel hard abs, sunny smile, had turned to love, but he was sure that it had. It was true, he really loved Clark, despite the fact that he knew that he never would have confessed it to him while he was sober.

 

He loved Clark Kent. His infuriating, sexy nemesis was one of a kind. Kind, tender, honorable and so gorgeous it nearly hurt his eyes to look upon him. How could he not love Clark?

 

But Mrs. O'Hara had said it: Clark had been surprised.

 

Of course he had been. Why would he have expected it? Lex had tried to 'kill' him or capture him so many times. What he'd told Clark in the limo the day he'd bought him from the witch had been true.

 

All those crazy plots had all been ploys to get Clark's attention. He had wanted to prove to Clark that he still mattered, was still important in his life, even if it was only as his nemesis. 

 

It had been only as his enemy that he had gotten to see Clark as often as he did.   If he couldn't be with him, he'd find anyway he could to get Clark to come see Lex. Even hearing the Jonathan Kent-like moralistic platitudes that Clark spouted so well as he destroyed yet another lab were worth it if only to see him again. 

 

God, he was so beautiful in action, as he fought the battle robots or destroyed his buildings.   He was physically perfect, poetry in motion. Lex would gladly give up hundreds of millions, even billions, in costs to rebuild labs if he could only get to watch Clark knock them down.

 

His self-righteous ire, his indignant fury, only added to the flavor. Would Clark be offended if he'd admitted that he would get hard watching him destroy Lexcorp's infrastructure? 

 

He probably would, Lex admitted. Clark wouldn't understand, and he probably doesn't understand why Lex told him he loved him. He might assume its part of some ploy to pull something over on Clark, but it wasn't. It couldn't be.

 

He realized, finally, that he did honestly love Clark. Despite all the lust muddying things, he loved him and loved him deeply. Maybe it was about time he realized that it was love, and not lust, that had been to blame for his irrational behavior. However, he couldn't stand the fact that the harder he tried to hold onto Clark, the further away he seemed to be.

 

Lex took the stone out of his pocket and thought about using it to bring Clark home, but he didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't be pathetic enough to force his would-be lover home when he didn't want to come. 

 

Lex stared back out over the darkening sky and hoped for a flash of blue and red to streak by, but it never came. Clark didn't come and Lex worried that he would never again.   Lex felt like something was wrong, he felt an anxiety he'd never felt before by being stood up. 

 

He worried that Clark was in trouble.

 

He heard a sound behind him. He turned to look at Mrs. O'Hara.

 

"Is Mr. Kent going to be in for dinner, sir?"

 

Lex sighed and shook his head, "No, I don't think so. Something must have come up."

 

"He said he was looking forward to dinner too, what a shame..."

 

Lex's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He said that?"

 

"Yes, he did... what a nice lad you've got in him." She asked regretfully, "Shall I put everything away, Mr. Luthor?"

 

"Yes, that would probably be for the best."

 

"Of course, sir... I'll make a plate for you and leave it warm in the oven."

 

"I'd appreciate that, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

He waited until she went back into the kitchen before he snapped open his cell phone. He dialed and didn't even announce himself, just spoke, terse and to the point. "Find out where he is."

 

Mercy replied in an equally terse tone, "Yes, sir," before he snapped the phone shut.

 

He had a very bad feeling about where Clark could possibly be.

~:::~

 

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84782.html)....

 

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	11. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 11 A**_  
I had wanted to get this out before the new season preemed, so I'm really cutting it close.  But it's big, so It's in two parts.

It's probably a miracle I got this posted.

LJ was a bear and it's longer than normal and then I also went to Dragon*Con too in there and it's only a little more than a month since my last update, so I hope everyone's looking forward to reading this...  
**  
Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  6,612 - both parts (**Story, thus far:** 52,810)  
**Short summary of this chapter: **Lex tries to find Clark after he again goes missing. (cover thanks to [](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/profile)[**danceswithgary**](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/))

  


[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) | [Ten](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html) |

Part 11A of possibly 15...

 

~:::~

Mercy pretty much had made it clear that hovering behind her while she worked to find Clark, made calls, searched the web, wasn't welcome, so Lex had left her alone. He wandered into the living room and started to drink as he waited.

 

He drained his fourth drink and realized that he'd never eaten the dinner that Mrs. O'Hara had left for him.  He'd have to apologize to her about that later, but he had no appetite. He left the empty glass on the bar and paced.

 

Lex was more nervous than he thought he'd ever been before about anything.  When he became conscious of walking back and forth, he stopped and stood as he scowled and looked out the window. 

 

Despite wanting to avoid pacing, he was too anxious and unable to stand still. With a heavy sigh, he pushed open the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the patio. He walked around the pool and walked over to the wall at the edge of roof. The waist high wall was the only thing between him and the vast cityscape that spread out in front of him. 

 

The view was spectacular, not that Lex really noticed. He was too preoccupied to admire it, as he searched the sky for a particular shape, a blur of blue and red, but it wasn't like he had ever just enjoyed the view.

 

The high-rise penthouse took up the entire top floor and the extravagant multimillion dollar apartment was the show piece of Lex's personal wealth. The south-facing patio and the tall west-facing living room windows provided an expansive view of the Metropolis downtown that was the best in the entire city.

 

Lex had never looked out the window simply to enjoy the view and only very rarely had ever stepped out onto the patio. Also, despite the expense of installing and maintaining it, Lex had never used the small swimming pool. He had spent the money to simply show he could.

 

The terrific view, like the costly, hand-cut Italian marble tile the patio was lined with, was all for show. The pool, the patio and humongous picture window were the most visible part of an intentionally over-indulgent display of his riches. He used it only to impress others, either through an occasional high profile glossy magazine shoot or as the stage for an extravagant party.

 

Despite the beauty of the city's glittering skyline, the air crisp and clear, Lex was out there simply to kill time. Simply doing something to occupy himself as he waited for Mercy to find Clark, to discover where he'd gone, whether he was okay.

 

Lex frowned into the night and knew, somehow, that Clark wasn't okay. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it.   He knew that something was wrong.  

 

Very, Very Wrong.

 

He looked up into the darkness and at the huge sky spread out above him, dark and seemingly endless.

 

Lex, possibly for the first time in his adult life, felt powerless, small and vulnerable. 

 

He gritted his teeth against those feelings, clenched his hands tight into fists and fought them. He wanted Clark to come home safe so badly it hurt.

 

Unsure why now he was so upset, why he felt so impotent, Lex turned his thoughts more inward. He wondered, suddenly, why he felt the way he did. He examined the feelings and couldn't understand it. 

 

Never in his adult life had he ever felt this helpless.

 

Lex frowned.

 

Was he afraid to lose Clark so soon after coming to terms with the true depths of his feelings for Superman? Was he that scared of losing him now that he was so close to having him in his life?

 

When Lex thought about it, when he stepped outside of himself for a moment and considered the feelings he was struggling against, even with all the long, tangled back-story that had made recent events nearly miraculous, he couldn't understand it. He simply couldn't comprehend why Clark going missing again would cause such an anxious mix of emotions.

 

Lex was usually cool under pressure, so resolved to tackle whatever problems he faced. He felt fear, every living creature does, but he hadn't ever let fear rule him like this. It was unexpected. He hadn't felt like this when Clark had originally been taken by the witch, after all. 

 

That situation hadn't been any different, had it?

 

He considered that.

 

He realized, with a shock, that it had indeed been different.

 

When the witch had arranged for Clark's capture and ransom, Lex hadn't yet had the stone.  More importantly, Superman hadn't yet gone through the witch's spell, he hadn't yet had his blood mingled with Lex's on the stone, on his skin, in his mouth.

 

Blood in his mouth.

 

Also, Clark hadn't yet swallowed that drop of blood that had made the witch turn so pale, which had also caused a ripple of magical energy so powerful that it had rattled the windows.

 

He took the stone out of his pocket and held it in his hand. 

 

Lex looked at it, still stained with his and Clark's blood.   It was warm in his hands, despite the chill of the breeze, and his skin tingled a bit where it touched the smooth stone.

 

Lex knew that the spell had changed Clark, given him into Lex's power. However, perhaps the magic, that drop of blood, the comingling of their blood on the stone and on Clark's forehead, had changed him too.  

 

Maybe he was feeling what he was because of Clark. Maybe it was because it was what Clark was feeling...

 

Confused, his stomach clenched at the thought of it: the possibility that what he was feeling reflected what Clark's emotions were. He worried that Clark might be feeling scared and helpless and that he could do nothing to stop it. He could do nothing to help him. He didn't even know where he was.

 

Anxious, Lex looked to the west. Somehow he knew that Clark was west of Metropolis, and frowned.   He wanted to see Clark to come home. He didn't want to wait another second, the anxiety twisted his gut too much for him to put up with this for very long, but he didn't have much of a choice.

 

He turned to look over his shoulder at the sliding glass door to the patio to the guest room, Clark's room. It was, of course, dark. 

 

Lex pocketed the stone and walked over to the door and slid it open. The curtain billowed out into the nearly constant breeze that is always present this high up, at first obscuring Lex's view. He pushed aside the heavy drapes and stepped inside.

 

There was a faint line of light coming into the room from under the door to the hallway, but aside from that, no light was on in the bedroom. It was actually an extremely large room. Of course, Lex hadn't needed to remove the bed to get Clark's modest office furniture into the space, but he had anyway. 

 

Part of him had regretted that since it had turned out to have not been the best idea, it had made Clark so angry, but he had enjoyed having Clark so physically close and sharing his bed. Despite the angst it'd caused Clark, Lex figured it had been worth it, especially if Clark's sudden disappearance meant he wasn't ever going to come back.

 

He walked over to the king sized bed that Mercy had arranged to have moved into the room. She'd gotten a dark-blue plaid (luckily not flannel) duvet for the down comforter, which had different shades of blue with hints of maroon and yellow ocher. The sheets were a solid dark blue, with matching and contrasting dark blue and maroon pillow cases.

 

The extremely expensive mattress was made of memory foam that was more than eighteen inches thick. The pillows were eider down and probably the most expensive ones that Mercy could find, but Lex didn't care. He wanted the best for Clark. If he wouldn't stay with Lex, he wanted the guest room to be the most comfortable room possible.

 

He definitely would have to give Mercy a raise. Despite the fact that the regrettable plaid and the combination of colors was something he never would have chosen, the way they worked together gave the room a homey, yet an elegant, feel that he hoped that Clark would appreciate. The primary colors would have been welcomed by his reluctant guest. Unfortunately, Lex wasn't sure Clark would even get to see it.

 

He sighed and regretted leaving his glass on the bar in the living room. Lex contemplated going to fill it again when he heard a sound behind him.

 

A surge of hope rushed through him as he turned around, he had expected to see Clark in the door, but was disappointed when he saw Mercy's shape silhouetted by the bright light behind her. 

 

His hope was rekindled when she said, "I found him."

 

~:::~

 

Lex sat on the edge of a chair in the den as he watched the report on MSNBC and scowled.   There had been another humongous tsunami in Southeast Asia. It had devastated the dozens of countries which ringed the Bay of Bengal, making millions homeless and possibly killing tens of thousands.

 

Superman had been reported to be helping survivors, helping to recover bodies, but there had been so many... 

 

Lex understood, maybe really for the first time, what it was that Clark went through when he had emergencies to deal with. 

 

He now knew for sure that what he'd been feeling ever since Clark had left was flavored by what the other man was going through. As he looked at the TV, hoping for some glimpse of Superman, some report of what he was doing, Lex was even more in awe of Clark than he had ever been.

 

To feel so small and powerless, yet still try and do whatever possible to help. A lesser man would have given up even trying after the first hours, but Lex knew Clark would be there for however long it took.

 

The love he felt for Clark blossomed and grew. He wasn't sure it would have been possible to love him more, but knowing he worked so hard, so selflessly, to help others further entrenched the Kryptonian into his heart.

 

He watched intently, hungry to hear what Superman was doing to help or maybe get a glimpse of Clark, see how he was. The most the news showed were the same brief flashes of red and blue as Clark streaked across the cloudy skies over the hundreds of poor villages drowned by the tsunami.

 

As he and Mercy watched a live report, a reporter was in a Red Crescent refugee center where they'd had reports of Superman bringing people in from the devastation. In the midst of an interview with an aid worker, Superman came in with another person he'd rescued.

 

Clark lowered a muddy, trembling little girl about ten years old into the waiting arms of the Red Crescent volunteer as the cameras taped the scene. The reporter asked, "Superman, it's wonderful you saved her, but there are so many... What else are you going to do to help?

 

His face contorted and he was breathless, but it wasn't due to pain or physical exertion. His voice thick with emotion, Clark simply said, "I'm going to make sure they all get to go home." 

 

It broke Lex's heart.

 

And a surge of love for Clark overwhelmed him. 

 

Superman looked at the camera sadly for a moment. 

 

At that moment as he looked into Clark's eyes, his sad eyes, Lex was convinced that Clark somehow knew he was watching. 

 

He looked about to say something, but, suddenly and with a silent shake of his head, Clark was gone.

 

Superman's unexpectedly abrupt departure left the reporter confused and stammering as he tried to finish reporting to close out the rest of his live segment. Before he tossed back to the anchor safe and dry in New York, Clark was only visible as a distant red and blue streak in the sky.

 

As he watched more of the news, with images of the hurt and dead, Lex felt something he'd never really felt before. He felt inconsequential and helpless. For the first time, Lex had an inkling of why Clark did what he did. 

 

Clark's empathy and selflessness, powered by his nearly unlimited strength, gave him the ability to help and protect people in trouble even when no one else in the world could, or would. Helping innocents, saving them, giving them dignity in death even when he couldn't save their lives and taking them back to their families was more important to Clark than almost anything.

 

Lex hadn't really understood before why Clark had always lectured him on responsible use of power. He had thought Clark had been talking about wealth or political might. He had been wrong. Lex felt shamed by that misunderstanding now.

 

No, Clark hadn't been talking about anything material. He had been talking about people. 

 

Clark took it personally when people he watched over were hurt, not because he was territorial (which was what Lex had always suspected), but because he cared, really cared, about them. He cared about their well-being. 

 

It was an epiphany, an insight about Clark, Lex hadn't expected... 

 

He could feel Clark's torment at his helplessness in the face of the overwhelming tragedy and it moved him more than he would have ever thought it would have. Tears stung his eyes as he saw the despair of the victims.

 

When Mercy shifted slightly as she stood next to his chair, he looked up at her. 

 

She watched Lex, not the TV, and seemed unsure what to make of her unusually emotional boss. When he looked at her, she looked back in expectation. Her graceful eyebrows raised, her mouth slightly open, as if waiting for an order, a command to go into action for him, ever loyal and faithful. 

 

Her voice, when she spoke, was unusually tender. "Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Luthor?"

 

Lex thought for a minute. He stared at the video of the suffering of untold thousands half a world away and looked back at her. He gestured toward the TV. 

 

"Help me to help him."

 

~:::~

 

Even though Lex had previously helped people in need, he'd never before felt the urgency like he did now. Before, it had only been because it made for good PR or helped him deduct any charitable gifts at tax time. However, now he and Mercy worked through the night, sending the relief agencies food, water, and supplies from his distribution warehouses, arranging for ships and planes to get the relief to the most affected areas.

 

His heart ached and he felt weary like he had never before. He fought to stand upright sometimes, but he didn't sleep or rest and Clark didn't come home. Not for days.

 

Clark looked exhausted in every single video Lex had seen him in and yet he still didn't come home. 

 

Though tired, clearly at the limits of even his seemingly endless physical capabilities, Superman kept on working. He kept on trudging through the mud and mounds of rubble that was all that was left of most villages, trying to recover every body he could, as he tried to keep his promise to get everyone home. Yet there were some that would never go home, that had been lost to the sea. 

 

It warmed his heart that Clark worked so hard, even to the point where he was pushing himself to the limits of his considerable gifts. Still, he wished he would come home to him.  

 

Lex ached for the victims of the disaster, but he ached to hold Clark more. He missed him, even as infuriating, insufferable, exasperating and frustrating as he is. But Clark was also noble, earnest, faithful, and true.

 

Lex wanted to see him safe, even if it meant he wouldn't ever come back to him.

 

~:::~

 

Lex slept little the rest of the week. He couldn't, not with Clark gone. 

 

However, he had finally slept for a few hours after some encouragement from Mercy (who had escorted him to bed with a stern look and a hand on her gun).   He woke early in the morning well before the sun rose and before Mrs. O'Hara would arrive. 

 

He took a quick shower and went in search of Mercy. He found her in his office and she told him that there was still no sign of Superman. 

 

It had been six days since he'd left and there hadn't been a reported sighting of Clark in almost a day. Lex was worried. 

 

The penthouse was unusually quiet. He managed to stagger into the shower and then made some coffee to try and wake himself up. He sipped the toxic brew, too strong and not nearly as good as Mrs. O'Hara's, as he checked the news channels and online news sites. 

 

There was nothing new on Superman's whereabouts. 

 

Anxious, Lex walked out onto the patio so he could get a good look west. He stood and watched for untold minutes, but somehow looking west didn't seem right. 

 

For no apparent reason, Lex felt drawn to look around, to look to the east instead. He turned and looked toward the other side of the patio. The sliding glass door to the guest room, Clark's room, was open.

 

He tilted his head as he looked intently at the door. 

 

There was no reason for the door to be open. No one should have gone into the room. The penthouse apartment was the sole residence on the top floor of the building and there was no way anyone who couldn't fly would be able to get into the apartment without Lex knowing about it.

 

Even so, he walked toward the open door cautiously and yet dared to hope.

 

Lex quietly peered in the open door, but he didn't see Clark at first.   However, he felt that he was there. He wanted to see the proof for himself, but the heavy drapes obscured most of the room. Lex had to hold a hand out and push aside the thick fabric. 

 

It took Lex's eyes a minute to adjust to the dark of the room compared to the brightening day outside, but then he could see that Clark lay in the bed asleep, his muddy uniform left where it lay on the floor just inside the bathroom. A wet towel lay on top of it. The exhausted man had apparently taken a shower and managed to pull on his pajamas before collapsing into bed.

 

A warm feeling of love and.... something else... _completeness_ made Lex feel better than he'd felt since Clark had left. He smiled, satisfied that Clark had accepted the penthouse as his home, glad that he came home without being forced.

 

Lex turned to leave, but he stopped when he heard a soft sound. 

~:::~  
   
     
[Part 11b here...](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84654.html)  
 

[](http://www.statcounter.com/) 


	12. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
exhausted  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman For Sale, part 11b**_  
Part 11b

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  6,612 - both parts (**Story, thus far:** 52,810)  
**Short summary of this chapter: **Lex finds Clark and Clark suffers the after-affects of the emergency that called him away. (cover thanks to [](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/profile)[**danceswithgary**](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/))

 

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) | [Ten](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html) | [Eleven A](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84782.html) |

 Part 11 B of possibly 15....

 

~:::~

Clark woke to warmth and comfort. 

 

He vaguely remembered bad dreams, all the dead eyes and broken bodies that had been so numerous in the small fishing villages on the coast of poor countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. Only partly awake, he felt a pair of arms around him, warmth, comfort, safety...

 

Not really aware, yet comforted by the arms that held him, Clark fell back into a deeper sleep.

 

~:::~

 

Clark woke again slowly, his still weary mind coming awake slowly. He realized it was day, but he had come back to the penthouse in the middle of the night after too many days pulling bodies, too many of them dead, from the destruction in the aftermath of the tsunami. 

 

He felt warm and comfortable, despite the partly remembered bad dreams he'd had about the dead staring eyes and torn and battered corpses. He wished it would get easier to deal with tragedies like that, but he supposed it never would.

 

Clark shifted on the bed and realized that he wasn't alone, that his cheek rested on the shoulder of someone and that his arm was draped over someone else's waist.

 

_Lex..._

 

He looked up at the sleeping man's profile. He had dark smudges under his eyes and, if he'd been any other man, Clark imagined he would have had a several day growth of beard on top of that. He was fully clothed except for his stocking feet and, despite the fact he slept, Lex looked drained like he'd been up for days.

 

Still weary from the emergency, Clark didn't have the heart to pick a fight with Lex about him coming into his room... He regretfully pulled away and sat up in bed and looked out of the window. It was in the middle of the day, and yet Lex was in the bed with him when he should be at work.

 

_Why?_

 

He remembered vaguely that someone had held him in strong arms, comforting him. 

 

Would someone who only lusted after Clark do something like that?  Comfort him when no sex had been involved?  Had Lex been telling the truth about his feelings?

 

He had thought that Lex's feelings had been more lustful, but why had he said he loved him if that was the case? Didn't the manipulation into sharing his bed, the phantom fingers, the non-sex while at City Hall, all prove it was lust?

 

Clark had only felt the phantom fingers originally whenever Lex had been in the same room with him, smirked at him, or mocked him. Then it started happening more and more, even when Lex was in a different room, a different building. It wasn't just when he saw Clark; it must also be when he thought about him, or when he daydreamed about graphic sexual encounters with him.

 

The phantom fingers weren't as apparent as they had been. He had only been faintly felt them since he had gone west (possibly due to the distance while he was half a world away). However, he had felt them when that reporter had done the live shot from the rescue center. After that they were fainter and they weren't present now.  He wondered at that and realized it was likely because Lex was still deeply asleep, despite it being so late in the day. 

 

Hadn't the feelings been just because of the lust Lex felt? 

 

Or, maybe they weren't.

 

If Lex loved him, truly loved him, like he'd said, like Mrs. O'Hara seemed to think, and that there was more than lust, then maybe there was another reason for them. The feeling had been less erotic when he had been at that rescue center; then the feeling had felt more comforting. 

 

Clark looked back at Lex's tired face and his eyes fluttered open, as if on cue. Clark looked away. The phantom touches came back when Lex saw him and smiled sleepily, not quite awake yet.  This time the fingers were again soft, gentle, loving, not erotic, but Clark had to stay true to his promise. 

 

He sighed. 

 

No sex, meant no intimacy.  Right?

 

None? 

 

_No_, he thought. 

 

None.

 

Clark sighed again, regretfully, and looked toward the window.

 

Lex spoke, his speech slurred with sleep, "You 'kay, Clark?"

 

"Why are you here, Lex?"

 

"You were having a nightmare..."

 

"I'm not a child. I don't need to be tucked in when the closet monster scares me."

 

Lex sounded annoyed, "I was trying to comfort you."

 

"What if I don't want you comforting me?"

 

"Do you hate me that much?"

 

Clark replied quietly, "No, you know I don't..."

 

Lex sounded angry, Clark didn't want to look at him, but the fingers stopped. "So what's wrong? Are you so disgusted by me that you hate me showing you some tenderness?"

 

He glared at Lex angrily, "No, I hate that you manipulated me into being here and I don't think you should take advantage of it."

 

"How is giving you comfort taking advantage of you?"

 

Clark didn't have anything to say to that, specifically, so he glowered. "Because you know I don't want it."

 

"That's rich. You've always said I needed to show more kindness and compassion toward my fellow man, but what about me showing some to the only Kryptonian on the planet?" Lex sighed heavily, clearly exasperated. "I was only trying to help you... I thought you'd understand that."

 

"If it were anyone else—"

 

It was Lex's turn to interrupt, "Am I that much of a monster, Clark?"

 

"Sometimes you do monstrous things."

 

"What if I've changed? What if I'm different now?"

 

"You're never going to change, Lex. You've been doing the same things over and over again, for almost as long as I've known you. It doesn't seem to matter how many buildings of yours that I knock down..."

 

"If I'm so awful, if there's no hope in my redemption, why don't you just kill me right now? It'd be easy, you could squash me as easily as I could crush a paper cup. No one would blame you for doing it.  In fact, I bet there would be a lot of people that would thank you! They'd throw you parades out of gratitude."

 

Clark was horrified. "No matter what you've done, I could never do that, I would never want that."

 

"Well, what _do_ you want from me?"

 

"I want you to let me out of our agreement."

 

"Oh, no you don't, Clark... I'm not going to let you out of this. We're only ten days in—"

 

Clark interrupted, "Eleven."

 

Lex's eyes flashed in anger. "Okay, eleven, but do you think you get extra points for being anal about it?"

 

Clark sighed in exasperation. "Just stop, okay? I don't want to have a fight, I'm too tired." 

 

"So, go back to sleep..." Lex got up and leaned down to pick up his shoes. "I'll leave you to suffer alone since that's obviously what you want."

 

He slammed the door as he left. Unthinking, despite the lead lined oak paneling and walls that had come between them, Clark looked at the door and tried to follow Lex as he stalked back to his bedroom.  

 

Of course his vision flared blue.

 

Clark leaned back onto his pillow, his remarkably comfortable pillow, and couldn't wait for the rest of these thirty days to be over.

 

~:::~

 

 

The next week was pure hell.

 

He was confused about what he was supposed to feel.   At times the need was still overwhelming, but it got overshadowed by the lingering grief for the lost thousands. Added to the stress he felt about everything else, the addition of nightmares made it hard for Clark to sleep.

 

He was conflicted on what to do about Lex, but had no one he could really talk to about it. Not in Metropolis, anyway, and he couldn't shake the nightmares. They seemed to get worse with each passing day.

 

He ached to see his mother and talk to her about everything. She might not know how he should handle this whole crazy situation, but at least she always made him feel better.  He didn't want to try and talk to her about this over the phone either. Clark wanted to go home and spend the weekend with her, hug her, but he couldn't. He'd promised Lex he'd stay as part of their deal.

 

In an effort to try and distract himself, Clark worked as hard as he could at both his jobs while he kept to his bargain with Lex as much as it hurt him. He was miserable, but he wouldn't break his part of the bargain.

 

He acted like things were okay, but his sleep suffered and the nightmares got worse. Breakfast in the mornings always brought sad, regretful glances from Mrs. O'Hara and glares from Lex.

 

Dinners at night were even more uncomfortable, fretting Mrs. O'Hara always looked so sad as she watched her "dear lads" glower at each other.   It just made things harder.   

 

The ironic thing was that sometimes Lex was so angry at him that the phantom fingers would stop entirely. When that happened, Clark actually missed them. 

 

They were touch, after all. 

 

Right now he wasn't getting touched, not by anyone.

 

He actually would have loved to get just a hug, but Lois wasn't really an option either. 

 

Going to her for comfort and understanding would have required he explain the whole thing to her. Clark wasn't sure he wanted to tell her the truth yet, mostly because he wasn't sure what the truth really was. Also, he couldn't imagine which lie he could tell that would possibly cover what was going on. She'd be able to tell that he was lying anyway, so there was really little point in even trying.

 

In getting down to the bottom of the story Lois would be like a terrier pulling on a pant leg, she wouldn't stop. He knew she would eventually find out what Clark was hiding from her. However, his sad love-life wasn't something he wanted to really discuss with her.

 

Wait. Did he just think that this was all part of his _love life?_

 

Clark wondered why he'd thought that the situation with Lex had anything to do with his love life. Could he really describe what was happening as part of an actual relationship?

 

Did he love Lex in return? 

 

He thought about that.

 

If he had to answer honestly, he wasn't sure he could say no to that question. Some part of him had always treasured the friendship they'd had when he was younger. Clark had grieved for its loss. It had always saddened him to see what Lex had become, what he'd sometimes do.

 

However he had never hated Lex and he'd always found him attractive.  Clark had always desired him. That much was true.   However, was his confusion over how to deal with Lex rooted in love or lust?

 

After all that had been done and said between them, on both sides, was it possible to create a relationship? 

 

He ached to talk to someone about this, but his emotions were too raw to discuss it with Lex. 

 

Clark sat in the Daily Planet and looked out toward the window, distracted. He had been so preoccupied that he actually didn't realize that Lois had been trying to talk to him until he felt something smack into the side of his face. He looked down.

 

It was a paper ball wadded up from the early edition front page.

 

"You haven't heard a single word I've said, have you?"

 

Clark blushed, despite himself. "No, sorry. I'm a bit distracted, Lois."

 

She snorted, "A bit?"

 

"So what's so important you turn a perfectly innocent piece of paper into a projectile?" He scowled at Lois as he picked up the crumpled piece of paper and put it into the recycling bin that sat under his desk.

 

"I had been telling you about a story I was researching and then I asked you whether you read your email yet today and you completely ignored me." 

 

Clark shook his head, "I haven't read my email yet. Why do you ask?"

 

"You might want to check it. Luthor's press conference on Monday looks like it might be a doozie."

 

Intrigued, despite himself, Clark looked at his inbox, "Why's he holding a press conference?"

 

"I don't know, the news release only says that Luthor will be announcing important changes for Lexcorp."

 

Curious, Clark found the email and read the press release. Not a thing indicated what it was that Lex was going to talk about. He mused quietly to himself, "I wonder what he's up to?"

 

There was only a brief pause, and Lois' heartbeat sped up, before she quietly said, "You could always ask him at dinner tonight."

 

Startled that she somehow knew, he tried to act cool and blandly looked over at her, acting as innocent as he could. "Why do you think I'm having dinner with Lex?"

 

"Maybe because you've been living with him since you had inexplicably disappeared after that bank robbery."

 

Clark was evasive, "What makes you think that?"

 

"I'm a reporter, Clark. I figured it out. Hope taking your clothes, Lexcorp muscle carting away your furniture, combined with the fact that you've been seen leaving the Luthor Towers complex first thing in the morning several times the last few weeks."

 

Clark cautiously asked her, "Have you told anyone?"

 

She scowled and threw another paper ball at him. It hit him right between the eyes. "You're a big dope sometimes, Clark." She stood up and came around so she could stand over him. "Why would you think I would tell anyone that? I don't spread gossip about my friends, not even juicy gossip like you apparently shacking up with Lex Luthor." Her voice softened, "But I am concerned what this all means, you're clearly not happy combined with what happened at City Hall a few weeks ago and you not acting like yourself lately. I think something more is going on and I'm worried about you."

 

"I don't want to talk to you about it, Lois... not now."

 

"Well, okay. So you don't want to talk to me, but have you talked to your mom about it?"

 

Clark didn't trust his voice and merely shook his head.

 

"That explains it, then. You always get moody after you deal with something like just what had happened with the tsunami, you always talk to your mom to feel better. Are you going to see her this weekend?"

 

Again, not trusting his voice, Clark shook his head and played with his pen absentmindedly.

 

Lois let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, you need to talk to your mom. You're going to be miserable until you talk to her about whatever it is that's going on between you and Luthor and let her make you some of her apple pie."

 

"I can't, Lois, and I don't want to talk about why..."

 

Somehow, that made Lois angry. "Oh, you don't need to tell me why, I know why."

 

Clark looked up in surprise.  "You know why?"

"Yes, I do. Luthor must be behind it in some way and I'm going to punch him in the nose the next time I see him for doing it, whatever it is, to you. I don't care what that bitch Mercy does about that either.  He deserves worse than a broken nose for hurting you."

 

Clark could almost feel the love and protectiveness that radiated from Lois. Touched more than he would have admitted, he stood and wrapped her up in his arms. "Thank you, Lois. Thank you for caring."

 

Her voice was soft and uncharacteristically husky with emotion as she talked softly into his ear, "Of course I care for you, Clark... I wouldn't give you so much shit if I didn't." She pulled from the embrace and looked up at him sadly. "I still want to know exactly what's going on, but right now I'm more concerned for you. Please, do what you can to go back to Smallville this weekend, okay? You know talking to your mom always makes you feel better."

 

He smiled slightly, unconvinced that Lex would agree to breaking that part of their agreement, and let him go.  However, he wanted to reassure her. "I'll see what I can do."

 

~:::~

 

 

Clark slid his card key into the slot and pushed the button and waited for the elevator doors to open. As he waited, Clark fidgeted with his tie. He hated the fact that he was going to have to ask for Lex's permission to go home to see his mom for the weekend.

 

He'd agreed, in what seemed like a life-time ago, that he would only go back to see her for an afternoon. Clark had wanted to save the witch's life, but now he regretted he'd agreed to limit the time that he would spend with his mom. He wanted the comfort of home, her embrace, her cooking, her love, and for more than just a few hours.

 

The elevator reached the top floor far too soon. He sighed as the doors opened. He walked toward the front door of the penthouse.   Mercy arched an elegant eyebrow at him from her position at the small desk she sat at, but didn't ask whatever the question was that clearly was in the front of her mind.

 

Clark ignored her as he pushed open the door. He was surprised when he found that the apartment was nearly completely dark. There was a light coming from the hallway leading to Lex's office and bedroom and the light that came in through the windows from the twilight sky and the city lights. 

 

Clark was about to look through the walls, but he remembered the lead and listened instead. Lex was in his office, and there was a slight clink of ice in a glass as he sipped something. There were no other heart beats on the floor aside from Mercy's out in the hallway.

 

So there was no Mrs. O'Hara and no dinner waiting for them.   Clark looked at his watch, it was a few minutes before seven. Confused what was going on, he walked into Lex's office and was surprised to find that he wore a tuxedo.

 

He looked up at him, his eyes red-rimmed and sad. "Hello, Clark."

 

"You've been drinking."

 

Lex simply shrugged and then in answer took another sip of his scotch.

 

Clark was confused. "What's going on, Lex?"

 

"I gave Mrs. O'Hara the night off, so you'll have to fend for yourself. You're a big boy so I'm sure you'll be fine.  I'm going out for dinner tonight."

 

"You're going out?"

 

"Yes, there's a benefit dinner tonight, it's for the victims of the tsunami."

 

"Oh, that's good." Clark was confused, "But, isn't it a bit late for dinner?"

 

He arched an eyebrow in Clark's direction, "I'm going to be fashionably late, like Luthors always are..." Lex looked at Clark with a significant arch of one eyebrow.  "But then again, I don't have a date so I only have myself to worry about." He took another sip of his scotch.

 

Clark was at a bit of a loss and turned to leave, but a grunt from Lex, and remembering he had to ask about visiting his mother, made him stop. 

 

He looked back at the other man. Lex appeared as if he were completely confused about something.

 

Bitterly, he asked, "How can you stand it, Clark?"

 

"Stand what?"

 

"How can you stand what you're going through?"

 

"What are you talking about, Lex?"

 

"Can't you feel it, Clark? The pain, the confusion, the grief? I can feel it and I'm not even you. I don't know about you, but I can't stand it another minute."

 

Confused at exactly what Lex was talking about, all Clark could do was watch as Lex shook his head sadly and drained the rest of his drink in one pull. He stood up heavily and straightened his tie and jacket. He walked past Clark and spoke, his voice pained and angry. 

 

"Go home to Smallville and see your mother, Clark..." He turned to look at Clark. "I will expect you back in Metropolis on Monday for my press conference and then, barring any disasters, natural or otherwise, be back here to eat dinner and sleep. I'll have Mrs. O'Hara make something special to celebrate you coming home. I'll also want to celebrate the announcement I'll be making at the press conference Monday, but I don't want to see you until then." He turned to walk out, but Clark's question stopped him.

 

Despite his joy at being let go, even if only for a weekend, Clark had to ask, "What are you going to announce?"

 

Lex looked back at Clark. "You'll find out when everyone else does, Clark." With that, Lex walked out of the front door. 

 

Overjoyed, Clark didn't even bother to change. He sped through the living room and out of the sliding glass door and flew home to Smallville without looking back.

~:::~

 

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/91742.html)...      
   
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	13. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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accomplished  
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**Entry tags:** |   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_ **Superman for Sale - Chapter 12** _

Sorry this took so long, but real life has been beating me senseless, so hopefully posting two updates at once will help smooth things for people....

Update 13 will be posted as soon as possible...

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  7.060 - both parts (**Story, thus far:** 59,789)  
**Short summary of this chapter: **Clark has a nice visit with his mom and tries to figure out what to do about Lex. (cover thanks to [](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/profile)[**danceswithgary**](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/))

 

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) | [Ten](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html) | [Eleven A](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84782.html) | [Eleven B](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84654.html) |

Part 12 of possibly 15...

~:::~

 

Lex heard the sonic boom of Clark leaving Metropolis for Smallville before he'd even gotten on the elevator. He tried to not react to the quizzical look on Mercy's face and stepped inside to stand next to her.   He looked quietly at the door as he waited for Mercy to push the button.

 

She didn't push it right away.

 

He looked at her and arched an eyebrow.

 

She blushed slightly, abashed, and quietly pushed the button and avoided looking at Lex as the elevator descended. Lex was glad of the quiet and that Mercy's attention had shifted to her perfectly manicured nails, her only nervous habit, but he was relieved too.

 

The pain he'd felt, an echo of what Clark had been feeling, was now gone.  He resisted the urge to sigh. Lex limited himself to quietly clearing his throat and straightening his bow tie.

 

Before the elevator reached the ground floor, Lex knew that Clark was already home and wrapped in his mother's arms. The sense of Clark he felt through their connection, the comfort, warmth and love the other man was feeling, was just that strong.  He knew Clark felt safe and loved. 

 

Lex's heart clenched at the thought. Clark felt loved and safe at home in Smallville wrapped in his mother's arms, but didn't feel the same with Lex.   While he was in the apartment, whenever he was awake anyway, he knew that Clark felt on edge and defensive. He never let his guard down. 

 

However, he'd had that one night. After Clark had come home after the horror that must have been the devastation following the tsunami, after he'd quieted following his nightmares when Lex had comforted him before he had woken up, Clark had relaxed and had felt loved. 

 

Lex knew that as sure as he knew the sky was blue or the earth round or that Clark was the most handsome man on this, or any other, planet. As Clark had cuddled with him Lex knew he had felt safe and loved and comforted. Lex knew that being with him was something Clark wanted, deep down.

 

Yes, Lex knew that he hadn't really been awake. If he had been, he would have pulled away like he had later that same day. However, it was the unconscious feelings that Lex was sure Clark had felt which convinced him that he could make Clark happy. If only Clark would just let himself give into his feelings, Lex knew that he could make Clark happy even while awake. However, Superman was being too stubborn and self-righteous to even see that as a possibility.

 

Lex finally gave into the sigh he'd fought to release as Mercy tried to act like she hadn't noticed. He scowled at her as she held open the door that exited out to the street for him. 

 

They walked out to the limo where Hope waited in the idling car. 

 

Lex was convinced he'd made the right decision, despite the pain it'd caused him to see Clark go. He had to let him go home to see his mother. Lex knew Clark depended on his mother for emotional support more than a man his age probably should, but he had no other significant other so perhaps it made sense. She would talk with Clark and help him get his thoughts worked out. Martha would help Clark figure out what it was he really wants.

 

After that, who knows?  He might decide he doesn't want Lex and there'd be more uncomfortable silences, but maybe Clark might decide to give him a chance. Maybe Clark will see that he's really changed.  However, with (by then) only a little more than a week left in the thirty days to get Clark to see reason, Lex was really going to have his work cut out for him.

 

He was hopeful, as Mercy held open the limo door for him, that Clark would be happier when he came back. 

 

He sighed again as Mercy slid into the front seat next to Hope and the car pulled away.   

 

Despite the uncomfortable silences that have dominated his interaction with Superman the last week or so, Lex was going to really miss Clark. 

 

~:::~

 

 

Clark spent a long time, too long probably, just holding his mom in his arms.

 

She didn't ask why he was there, she hadn't needed to. She knew something was wrong and that it was more than what had happened in the wake of the tsunami.

 

He'd let her lead him to the couch and sat next to her, but he wasn't ready to talk just yet. So he just quietly sat with her and listened as she talked about what she had done that day and what she'd heard about his high school friends he'd lost touch with. She also talked about some of things coming up for her in the Senate, the important votes on laws that would help people she represented. She didn't pry or try to get him to talk, she just talked and he only asked an occasional question. 

 

She hadn't been expecting him, and it was late by the time he'd gotten hungry, so she just warmed up some leftovers for him. 

 

As she worked on that, Clark went up to his room to change. He pulled off his glasses since he wouldn't use them at home. He folded them and put the spectacles down on top of the nightstand. He looked down at his suit, tattered beyond repair by the turbulence of his supersonic flight. It was a complete loss. He really should have changed before flying home so fast.   He sighed as he took it off and stripped from his other suit too.  Clark pulled on a pair of boxers and opened the drawer to pull out one of the pairs of the spare jeans he always left there.

 

Even though his mom hadn't expected him, his jeans were all freshly laundered and smelled of lavender. Clark didn't know how she did that, but he really appreciated it. He associated the floral smell of the fabric softener with his mother and it made him feel more at home than just being there did.

 

He pulled on a t-shirt and took out a flannel shirt from the closet. He finished dressing and turned to hang the Superman suit in the secret compartment he'd built into the back of his closet. Opening that hidden door made him think of Lex's bedroom closet back in Metropolis. He hadn't seen the state of the closet since Lex had been so drunk that one morning.

 

Without really thinking about it, he idly figured that Lex had probably finished the renovations on the ruined closet by now.   He sighed at the thought that he would have to step into Lex's room to see the closet because of all the lead in the walls, but he was curious how it had turned out. He smiled when he thought of how well his suits would fit into that secret closet.  

 

He scowled when he realized he was mentally moving back into Lex's bedroom.

 

He sighed and quietly went back downstairs to eat.

 

~:::~

 

 

Even leftovers at his mother's house were delicious, every bit as scrumptious as what Mrs. O'Hara had ever made even if his mother's cooking wouldn't ever be considered "gourmet."  As they drank coffee and his mother watched him devour the last piece of apple pie, his third, it was like his world was normal again. He felt better. 

 

He still hadn't felt like talking afterwards, he was tired, so they just watched a movie. They watched one of his mom's favorites, _Singing in the Rain_. 

 

It was funny and it came from a far more innocent, and seemingly less-complicated, time. It was familiar and helped him relax as his mom gently held his hand and they laughed together. As the film went on, he leaned against her shoulder like he used to when he was a kid. It was an extremely long film, so Clark fell asleep even before the credits rolled. 

 

He didn't wake up until the next morning when his mom was moving around in the kitchen making breakfast.   She had covered him with a quilt and put a pillow under his head. He just listened to her moving around in the kitchen as he lay there. He breathed in the smells from kitchen, she was making blueberry pancakes with bacon.

 

After the delicious breakfast, Clark retreated to his old Fortress of Solitude as his mom cleaned up the dishes. She refused to let him help, so he had little choice.

 

She came up to the loft and sat next to him on the couch. She got right down to it, direct and not at all subtle. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

 

Clark sighed. 

 

He just talked quietly as he explained. His mom just listened, only asking questions to clarify points Clark had made. 

 

He'd explained it all, only leaving out the phantom fingers (even though he still felt them in Smallville) and the incident in the City Hall bathroom. She hadn't judged him or lectured, but at the end of his recitation she did ask only one question:

 

"Do you love him?"

 

"How can I? He's done so much, so many things have happened...  He'll never change."

 

"He told you that he loves you and you said he sounded sincere. It seems like he's taken at least one pretty big step toward changing. "

 

"I haven't seen proof of him changing in any other way."

 

He was surprised when his mother glanced at him with a mild look of surprise. "Don't you and Lois ever talk anymore?"

 

He scowled at her. "Yes, of course we do. She's my partner..."

 

She arched an eyebrow and, skeptical, asked, "Really?"

 

Clark shrugged.  "Well, we haven't talked a lot lately.  I haven't really had a chance with everything that's been going on." He looked more critically at his mother. "Why do you ask?"

 

She sighed, "I think you need to see something."

 

~:::~

 

Clark couldn't believe what he was reading. 

 

His mother had taken him back into the house and showed him the Saturday morning paper that lay on the butcher block island in the middle of the kitchen. 

 

Friday had been a slow news day, but why was this story a front page story? The Saturday morning Daily Planet had a huge above the fold front page spread on Lex's surprising philanthropy during the recent crisis following the catastrophic tsunami. It was an article written by Lois, no less.

 

Lex had apparently spent millions on helping the victims. He had shipped food, supplies, and needed medicine to the affected areas. The surprising part about it was that he'd done it without any publicity or press releases. He hadn't announced a thing and hadn't told a soul.

 

Him. 

 

_Lex Luthor. _

 

Lex.

 

And he'd done it on the sly, quietly, and without generating any publicity of any kind.  Clark had been living with him for the past week since he'd gotten back and Lex hadn't even mentioned what he'd done. He hadn't brought up the tsunami at all, except when he'd told him about the benefit dinner the night before.

 

It was completely out of character for Lex. It had been especially out of character since, according to Lois' article, Lex had been the one to organize the benefit.

 

Clark was surprised she had kept him in the dark on the article, but then he thought about it he realized that it probably wasn't surprising. He hadn't been exactly running on all cylinders when it came to Lex lately, but that was probably the story she'd been trying to talk to him about yesterday when he'd been so distracted.  

 

He sighed and looked down at his mother. Her face creased with worry, she looked up into his eyes. "I think he has changed, Clark... I don't know why or how, but maybe this is thanks to you."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"After only a few weeks of you staying with him, he starts helping others when it doesn't benefit him directly at all. He even went out of his way, spending millions. He hired ships and planes when he didn't have enough at his disposal to get the job done.  He never would have done that before. You know that better than I do. Is it a coincidence he did all this after you started living with him?"

 

"What's changed? I sleep in the same apartment with him and then he's changed? It doesn't make sense."

 

"I don't know what to tell you, sweetheart..."

 

Clark scowled. "He did say something weird last night. Right before he told me to come home, he said that he didn't know how I could stand feeling the anger, confusion and grief. He said that he couldn't stand it another minute." Clark suddenly realized what Lex had meant. "I thought he'd been talking about what he could see about what I was feeling, but maybe that wasn't it.  Maybe he somehow could sense what I felt."

 

His mother looked thoughtful for a moment, then added with a slight nod, "Maybe the spell didn't just change you; maybe it changed him too."

 

Clark shook his head and scowled at the paper laid out in front of him. "I don't know how that could be.  He wasn't the one under the witch's control. How did a spell she cast on me change him?"

 

His mother looked down at the picture of that Lexcorp ship's hold filled with food and supplies on the front page of the Planet. "I don't know why or how it happened, or even if the witch's spell was to blame, but the proof he's changed is in your paper, on the front page, and in an article written by your partner. Lois isn't exactly Lex's biggest fan. What other proof do you need that he's changed?"

 

Clark picked up the paper and looked at the picture of all the pallets stacked high with food, bottled water and medicine. He looked down at his mom. "Even if it's true, even with this, I'm not sure that I can trust him."

 

"Can you see him for what he seems to be becoming? Maybe forgive him for what he's done wrong? Do you think you can you learn to trust him?"

 

"I don't know..." 

 

His mother looked up at him and asked quietly, "You didn't really answer me before, Clark. Do you love him?"

 

Uncertain, Clark shook his head. "I'm not sure."

 

"I think you need to figure that out, Clark."

 

He nodded, but didn't otherwise reply. She was right. He did need to figure that out, but he was so confused by everything he wasn't sure what he was feeling from one minute to the next... How could he figure it out?

 

She patted his hand affectionately and quietly added.  "Whatever happens, you'll do the right thing."

 

"I'm not so sure I know what the right thing is."

 

"You'll know it, when you see it."

 

"How can you be so sure?" 

 

"I'm sure because you always do."

 

Clark sighed, exasperated, as his mom smiled warmly in return.   She affectionately kissed his cheek. As she moved away to dry the dishes, he wasn't certain she was right. 

 

He wasn't sure if he would do the right thing because he didn't know how he felt. So how could he possibly know what the right thing was? 

Clark sighed as he looked at the image of the Lexcorp ship's hold. He hoped he could figure it all out before Monday night and dinner with Lex.

 

~:::~

 

He spent the rest of the day working around the farm. He put in some new posts in the south pasture, and ran barbed wire to the new poles. He then repaired a broken chair. He lathed down a replacement leg then sanded the chair and replaced the leg. He finished by painting the chair. Even going normal human speed, Clark quickly ran out of things to keep him busy before dinner. His mother had made him his favorite meal, baked ham with sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, warm homemade bread and fresh apple pie with vanilla been ice cream. It was like a holiday.  

 

After they'd eaten, they'd gone for a walk and had just talked about nothing.   His mom had wanted to hear what else was going on in his life, what Chloe and Lois were up to.  Whether he'd heard from Lana since she'd moved to Paris. 

 

Later, after his mom had gone to bed, he hadn't been tired so he went back up to the loft and stared out into the night sky. As he brooded, the soft summer breeze softly blew through his hair. 

 

The fingers were still there, but they'd lost their erotic feel and Clark wasn't sure why. The touches were light and caressing, comforting. The thought occurred to Clark that Lex was thinking about him, but his thoughts weren't lustful ones. 

 

Maybe that explained why.  He was still unsure of what to do, but he found his thoughts wander toward Metropolis and Lex.

 

His hearing stretched out as he searched for the sound of Lex's heart beat. He found it, relaxed and steady. He didn't try to listen to anything else Lex was doing, there was a brief clink of ice in a glass, but he sat down on the couch and just listened to the steady thrum, thrum of Lex's heart. 

 

He didn't think about whether he should listen, or even why he was, but he felt better knowing that Lex was okay and he was comforted by the sound of Lex's heartbeat. Clark leaned back, closed his eyes and fell asleep as he listened to the constant beat.

 

~:::~

 

Lex took a sip of his drink as his thoughts drifted to Clark. He could feel the confusion and doubt Clark was experiencing.   Lex felt concern wash over him for Clark. He wanted to hug Clark, make him feel better, try to comfort him, but he had to depend on Mrs. Kent to do that for her son. 

 

He took another sip and he felt Clark calming, relaxing. He could tell when Clark fell asleep.

 

Lex smiled as he stepped out onto the patio. He walked to the wall and looked toward Smallville. The farm was too far away to see from there, but it was a warm night so he imagined that Clark slept up in the loft. He smiled as he imagined that a soft breeze coming in through the open hay loft door gently blew his hair away from his face as he slept peacefully.

 

~:::~

 

Clark slept late the next morning. He woke and was surprised by how late it was.   He pushed the blanket off and sat up.

 

He looked at it the warm Indian blanket. He hadn't pulled the blanket over himself, so his mother had must have tucked him in the night before since his shoes sat neatly by the side of the couch. 

 

He pulled his shoes on and went down to the house. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down to read the morning paper. 

 

"Would you like something to eat? It's closer to lunch than breakfast, but I could make you some eggs."

 

He looked up at his mother walking toward him. "Yeah, that sounds great..."

 

She kissed his cheek and looked into his eyes. "You slept a long time. I can't remember the last time you woke up this late."

 

"I haven't been sleeping well, I guess."

 

She smiled. "No, it doesn't seem like it."  She started to put together a big breakfast, more than just eggs, as Clark read Lois' follow up article from the one the day before. Lex had refused to make any comments or to disclose what he was going to announce the next day and the tone of her new article was a bit cranky because of that. Clark smiled. 

 

Lois always got cranky when her sources couldn't deliver anything substantive, and she had some terrific sources inside Lexcorp. However, it looked like Lois would have to learn what was going on the same time everyone else did: at the scheduled press conference the next day.

 

His mom gave him a huge mound of food and he quickly devoured it. He was hungrier than he'd thought. 

 

She sat down and drank a cup of coffee as she watched him eat.   She smiled at him warmly whenever he looked her way.

 

After he ate, his mom cleared his plate and refilled his coffee for him before sitting back down. She looked at him levelly.

 

"A thought had occurred to me..."

 

His eyebrows raised in response as he halted raising his cup to his lips. "What?"

 

"If it weren't for the money, the money you insisted on paying back even though Lex didn't even ask you to, combined with Lex's threat to the witch's life and him manipulating you to stay with him. Without all that, would it be easier to figure out what to do?"

 

Clark started to speak, opened his mouth, but thought better of it and closed it again. He frowned at his mom, confused.

 

"Think about it, sweetheart. If Lex did the same things, helping all those people without publicizing it, without the witch or the money or your agreement to stay with him being factors, would you consider seeing him romantically? Would the signs that he'd changed combined with his sincere confession that he loved you be enough for you to give him a chance?"

 

He looked down at his coffee and replied quietly, "I don't know."

She kissed his cheek. "You'll figure it out, sweetheart, I know you will." 

 

~:::~

 

Clark worked the rest of the day doing chores around the farm. He did it all without using any speed, mostly because he didn't think he had enough to do if he sped things up and he didn't want to have more free time to think about things. He had enough free time as is, without making more.

 

He ended the night the way he'd ended the one before, alone listening to Lex's heart beat. However, this time it didn't bring him the comfort he needed. He had too many thoughts tumbling around in his head that confused him and he was still unsure of what to do. 

 

Not even the comforting thoughts, which had become caressing, affectionate touches from Lex, helped.

 

~:::~

 

Clark woke early the next morning and did some more chores before he went in to shower. As he dried his hair with a towel, he scowled at the flannel shirts in the closet. The suit he'd worn on the flight down had been tattered beyond repair. He'd have to go back to Lex's apartment to change. 

 

He didn't want to do that. He wanted to put off seeing Lex until he finally had to at dinner. A thought occurred to him, he still had a spare suit hidden in the stairwell that led to The Daily Planet's roof. It would be wrinkled and dusty after being stuffed inside an access panel, but it would do.

 

He dressed in the uniform he'd pulled from the secret closet and then covered that with a soft cotton flannel plaid shirt and jeans. They smelled of lavender. He smiled with the warmth of the feeling the familiar smell gave him. 

 

His mother had breakfast ready for him as he came down the steps. Instead of sitting down to eat he just wrapped her up in his arms and hugged her.

 

"I love you, mom."

 

She kissed his cheek and replied softly, "I love you too, Clark."

 

He held her tighter and wished he never had to let go.

~:::~

 

 

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/92147.html)...

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	14. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
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---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman for Sale - Chapter 13**_

I'm thinking one more update after this should see this long WIP finally be completed.  I'm glad so many of you have stuck with this story, even with my irregular update postings.

 

**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  7,060 - both parts (**Story, thus far:** 59,789)  
**Short summary of this chapter: ** Clark spends more time with his mother before heading back to Metropolis to attend Lex's surprising press conference. (cover thanks to [](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/profile)[**danceswithgary**](http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/))

 

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) | [Ten](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html) | [Eleven A](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84782.html) | [Eleven B](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84654.html) | [Twelve](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/91742.html) |

Part 13 of possibly 15...

 

~:::~

 

After eating way too much of his mom's home cooked breakfast, Clark had touched down at the Planet just before the morning editorial meeting. He was surprised to find Lois waiting for him at the top of the stair well. She looked up at him from under her dark bangs as she leaned against the access panel where he'd hidden his suit.

 

"You feeling better?"

 

"Yes, I am. Thanks."

 

She smiled and let him get to the access panel. "Well, now it's time to get to work. I'm curious what Lex is up to."

 

Clark scowled at her as he dressed in a flash and slipped his wallet into his suit. "You think he's up to no good?" He put his folded up jeans and flannel shirt into the access panel and shut it.

 

"Of course, Smallville. What else?"

 

"I don't know we can assume anything at this point, he's not acting like himself."

 

"Did he tell you anything Friday night?"

 

Clark put on his glasses and straightened his tie. "No, he was a bit... testy."

 

"And drunk."

 

He didn't understand why he was defending Lex, but he couldn't help himself, "So what if he was drunk? He's an adult and he wasn't driving."

 

She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "Did he tell you anything about the press conference?"

 

"No, he didn't."

 

She heaved a big sigh, "That's too bad, but I was surprised you hadn't gone with him to the benefit. Being his new live-in, it would have made sense."

 

"I wanted to go home to see Mom, besides..." Clark continued lamely, "I hadn't been invited."

 

"You know, a new romance with a certain investigative reporter softening Lex and making him more like Dr. Phil and less like Dr. Mengele would have been one helluva angle on my story about his inexplicable and very generous philanthropy." Lois arched an eyebrow, "Too bad I couldn't print a word."

 

Clark scowled as he brushed by her to head downstairs. His only reply to her chuckle was a growl.

 

~:::~

 

Like most press conferences, this one also started late. Clark had to fight the urge to fidget as the time dragged on. Lois kept scribbling in her notebook as he chewed on his pencil eraser. Luckily, the air conditioning in the Lexcorp offices seemed to be working and the phantom fingers seemed to be almost non-existent. Lex must not be thinking about Clark at all right now.

 

Clark found that thought painful, for some reason, but was glad that would mean there wasn't going to be a return of the embarrassment from the last press conference he'd attended. However, he had gotten a few pointed looks from several people he'd remembered seeing at City Hall. Clark decided to act like nothing had happened and just smiled and nodded at them. Several shook their heads sadly and a couple even rolled their eyes as Lois chuckled softly next to him. 

 

Like all Lexcorp buildings, the walls were lined with lead so Clark couldn't see anything past the conference room the reporters were all jammed into, but that didn't stop him from listening. They were in one of the upper floors near Lex's executive office suite, so they were high up in the building. He concentrated and tried to find Lex, he was curious what the hold up was. The press conference had been supposed to start nearly an hour before. 

 

Lois noticed what he was doing. She whispered quietly next to him, "You hear anything?"

 

He glared at her for a moment, "Quiet... I'm trying to concentrate." She scowled at him and leaned back and crossed her arms indignantly. 

 

He turned his attention back to trying to listen. Clark found Lex's heartbeat on the same floor, down the hall in his office bathroom.  It sounded like he was getting ready to come into the press conference, it sounded like he was washing up. Clark heard sounds of him drying his hands and then pulling on his jacket and straightening his tie.

 

Mercy and Hope were both there, Clark could hear their heartbeats. Hope whispered, she sounded close to Mercy. "Is he here? I don't see him in the monitor."

 

Lex sounded annoyed as his walked nearer to the two women.  "I can hear you, Hope.   No need to whisper."

 

Hope sounded embarrassed.   "Of course not, sir... I'm sorry, sir." 

 

"And he's here."

 

"I beg pardon, sir, but I don't see him. He's sort of hard to miss, even with the glasses and rumpled suits.  He's so big."

 

"He agreed to be here and he is." Lex's voice got a far away quality and he added quietly, "I can feel him."

 

Clark only barely managed to suppress a gasp.

 

Lex _could_ feel him! Clark had guessed right, but how?

 

Clark was surprised when he heard Lex chuckle and the fingers started their comforting caresses again. "He's even listening. He seemed surprised by what I said."

 

Clark scowled in Lex's direction. Lex sighed, "I'll talk to you about that later, but after dinner and only once Mrs. O'Hara has left." He turned back toward the two women. "Anyway, I think we've made Clark, and the rest of the fourth estate, wait long enough, don't you ladies?"

 

The only answer he heard was their lighter footsteps following Lex's out of the door. 

 

~:::~

 

As the door opened at the end of the long conference room, all the reporters in the room fell completely silent. Lex entered the room followed closely by Hope and Mercy. The photographers' flashes were popping all around Lex and he squinted into the brilliant lights.

 

Lex crossed to the podium at the end of the small stage and took a sip of water from a glass that had been left there. He frowned, the ice had melted from the heat of the lights.

 

"I will give a prepared statement and then I will take a few questions." Lex looked at Clark significantly, "I know you all are curious why I've called this press conference, Lexcorp stock even took a hit today in early trading because of market speculation on the nature of my announcement. I hope the market will respond positively to what I'm about to say." 

 

He took another sip of water and looked around the room. "I'm here to announce major changes to several of Lexcorp weapons divisions and subsidiaries."

 

There were gasps in the room, but Clark's only reaction was to scowl as Lois looked up at him to gauge his reaction. 

 

Lex continued, "In recent years the activities of several of Lexcorp subsidiaries and divisions have come under mounting public scrutiny, mostly thanks to the two primary investigative reporters with The Daily Planet, Miss Lane and Mr. Kent. I see they are both in attendance here this morning..."

 

Lois sat up straighter as the crowd of reporters turned their attention toward her and Clark. Clark hunched down a little, uncomfortable with the increased scrutiny, as Lex smiled at him and the finger activity increased. Clark glowered in return.

 

"It's because of some recent events that have made me reexamine some of Lexcorp's businesses. The recent tragedy of the tsunami made me see how people can suffer and underlined the fact that Lexcorp has never tried to help. That's why I helped and sent those ships. I hadn't been seeking notoriety or acclaim, I was doing because it was the right thing to do, so I'm sorry Miss Lane had that article over the weekend. 

 

"Before Luthorcorp had become Lexcorp following my father's death, the company's early work in bio-engineering had been geared toward improving farming yields and improving plant health. For the past decade after my father's death, the emphasis had been more on trying to look for ways to apply what Lexcorp scientists had learned about plants and biology toward weapons research. Our scientists had made great leaps studying mutated genes caused by exposure to meteor rocks, or kryptonite, and applying them to weapons applications. We've not had any get past the prototype stage, but it's probably just as well. The Luthorcorp divisions and subsidiaries that had done the bulk of this research will be either closed or reabsorbed back into other R &amp; D projects run by the main corporation."

 

Lois, who had been growing more and more indignant, popped up and shouted out a question. "You mean to tell us that you're closing the divisions that you've tried to hide your unethical human experimentation in? Why, Mr. Luthor?"

 

Lex glared at Lois, "You should say 'alleged' experimentation. The charges were never proven no matter how many of my scientists you tried to turn against me, Miss Lane. However, I should restate that I will gladly answer questions at the end of my prepared comments, Miss Lane, and I will..." His face softened as his gaze switched to Clark. "I have a lot to answer for, I know, but I have more to say first." He took another sip of water as turned his gaze back toward the crowd of reporters. "As I was saying, certain divisions of Lexcorp will be closing, others will be folded back into either other divisions or reabsorbed back into the main corporation. Research that had been on the edge of ethical boundaries will be refocused and redesigned to conform to accepted legal, scientific and medical practices."

 

Lois just wouldn't let it go, "Luthor, I think we need to hear why. Why the change? You didn't go to bed as Doctor Death and wake up as Marie Curie.  What gives?"

 

Lex sighed but looked at Clark as he answered, "Let's just say that I've had some recent changes in my life that have made me to try harder to be worthy of his affection. In looking at what Lexcorp has done in certain of its businesses, it had been harder and harder for me to look at myself in the mirror, especially when I asked myself 'What would he do'. I know he wouldn't play god with people's lives, so I'm getting out of the business of manipulating people's lives for the fiduciary benefit of Lexcorp's stockholders."  

 

Lois looked at Clark significantly before continuing, "Do you really mean that love made you do it?"

 

Lex smiled warmly at Lois before he turned his gaze back to Clark. "I need to also thank a certain caped superhero for his part in this. Superman's recent heroism in the wake of the tsunami had a profound affect on me on ways I'm not sure that I can even articulate. His example made me reexamine how I run my business and even live my life. I had an epiphany, thanks to Superman, and I also have fallen in love, thanks to someone else." Lex looked back at Lois before he continued, "So yes, Miss Lane, it is accurate to say 'Love made me do it'."

 

Time stretched as Clark looked at Lex as he again looked back at him. Lex's eyes softened and there was a hint of smile on his face as Clark looked into his eyes from across the room.

 

His mom had been right, things had changed. 

 

Lex had really changed. 

 

He was still confused, Lex had still coerced him to stay against his will, but if Lex really loved him, wasn't there a way for them to work past that? Clark felt hopeful as the other reporters all stood, shouted Lex's name, and tried to get his attention. Clark stood and raised his hand, he never shouted (it was rude). He had a question to ask.

 

However, before Clark could speak, he heard something.   He turned toward the sound and realized he had to go. He looked back at Lex as he nodded at him, "Your question—"

 

Clark shrugged and gave Lex a sad look of apology. He zipped off to the emergency that needed his attention so his question would have to wait.

 

~:::~

 

Lex was confused, one moment Clark was there, looking apologetic, and then he was gone. He hoped he covered well as his gaze shifted away from the empty space where Clark had stood to where Lois was. She also looked a bit startled, but shouted Lex's name anyway.

 

"...Miss Lane?"

 

"So, who is this mystery man that changed you, Mr. Luthor?"

 

Lex raised an eyebrow and sneered at Lois. "I didn't realize you worked for The Inquisitor, Miss Lane."

 

He took a perverse pleasure in seeing her back stiffen as she sniffed indignantly. "I don't work for The Inquisitor—"

 

Lex couldn't resist interrupting, "Not anymore."

 

Lois glowered at him before she continued, "You can't drop this nugget and expect a room full of reporters to ignore it. Who is he? Why does having him in your life made you see things so differently?"

 

He had to think for a moment before he answered, he felt inexplicably anxious.  "I can't say who yet. I hadn't planned on bringing him up at all, but I couldn't help it. He's very important to me now, but he is also a very private person..." He paused, unsure what else he was going to say. He wanted to tell the world he loved Clark Kent, but things hadn't been worked out between them yet. He couldn't say anything more until they'd talked.

 

Lex was about to say that he 'can't say more at this time', but he didn't have the chance. There was the sound of an explosion off in the distance. Every single head whipped around to that direction.

 

Almost instantly all of the reporters rushed to the window. As he looked on in dismay, Lex realized what he was feeling weren't his feelings, they were Clark's. His worry had turned to fear, but that was laid under a steely resolve. Whatever it was that Clark was facing, he was going to get the better of it.

 

With Mercy's and Hope's help, Lex pushed through the crowd so he could see out of the window on that side of the building. Lois stood next to him, her face pale.

 

About three blocks south of the Lexcorp office tower, there was a smoking ruin that used to be, Lex believed, a Mercedes. A huge hulking contraption that looked something like a humongous robotic spider faced off toward the far smaller blue and red clad Superman. The robot had multiple legs, eight like a spider, but unlike a spider it also had two heads, one at each end of its main body. 

 

Clark hovered about 50 feet away from the mechanical monster and it looked like he was yelling at the thing. The thing reared up like a tarantula about to attack its prey and shot two enhanced beams of green light at Superman from the bottom of one of its heads.

 

Unexpectedly, Clark was knocked from the air. He went off down a side street and Lex couldn't see where he had hit the pavement. The beast of a machine continued its advance toward Lexcorp.

 

Lex gasped with the sudden pain he felt only a shadow of through his connection with Superman. Overwhelmed by the sensations, he barely registered Lois whisper, her voice hushed and worried, "Oh, God,   Clark."

 

He looked over at her in shock.

 

"You know?"

 

She glanced over at him only briefly. She sniffed indignantly and whispered, lying, "Of course, I've always known but I'm surprised you did."

 

He whispered harshly, "Eye glasses and styling your hair differently isn't a very good disguise."

 

"Then why have you been trying to capture him? He's your former best friend." 

 

Uncomfortable, he lamely added, "It's complicated."

 

"Is it complicated enough for you to try and murder him?"

 

"What do you mean? I haven't tried to murder him, I ransomed him. I wouldn't hurt Clark."

 

"Why is that monstrosity trying to kill him then?"

 

"I didn't have anything to do with that."

 

She snorted, skeptical. "Yeah, right; like I believe that. I don't know how or why you forced him to move in with you, but it's clearly not working out. He's been miserable and is probably thinking of moving back out, so you decide to kill him in a way that would be difficult to be traced back to you."

 

He looked to where Clark shot back up into the air and zoomed to hang in front of the monstrously huge machine. He hit the huge spider robot with a shot of heat vision. The machine halted in its tracks and one of its legs batted Clark away like it was swatting at a bug with a fly swatter.   Lex could feel the pain through his connection with Superman.

 

"I didn't make that thing, Lois. I wouldn't have, not now. It's why I'm shutting down my weapons divisions.  I'm not in the destroying-Superman business anymore, Lois."

 

"I don't believe you. That thing has Lexcorp technology written all over it."

 

Alarmed he looked closer at the canons attached to the 'heads' of the thing... Lois was right. They looked like something he might have built. In fact, they looked like his prototype kryptonite electromagnetic pulse beam weapons that he'd only recently developed, like the one he'd wanted to use against Clark all those weeks ago, only bigger.

 

Lex thought, _'That's impossible, I'd only built a pair of them which were far smaller than that...'_

 

He looked again at the design of the robot itself. It was very similar to something he'd been working on before Clark had moved in. Something that would have eventually been meant to help take Superman down, except his design had only had one 'head' instead of two.

 

But the designs had never moved into the next stage. He'd never built one, but someone else had. His designs had been stolen, modified and they were using them against Clark. 

 

His fury grew as the thing again hit Clark from the air and continued to advance toward the building he was in. The building that was the center of his empire, where his offices were housed.

 

Someone had it in for him. No one was safe here.

 

He looked over to where Mercy and Hope stood as they watched him. "Evacuate the building, that thing is moving this way." The fire alarm started to sound, the loud claxon of it almost deafening.

 

Lois looked surprised as she yelled above the sound of the alarm, "You really didn't build that thing?"

 

Lex whispered to her harshly, furious at her and the maniac who threatened Clark, "No, I didn't. If I have my way, it's going to be destroyed before it can hurt the man I love." He yelled to the room, "Everyone needs to leave the building as quickly as possible. That machine is heading this way, it won't be safe here if Superman can't stop it."

 

Lex ran to the door, barely ahead of the crowd of reporters hot on his trail, as he called out to Mercy and Hope. "Call security and get as many of them as possible out on the street with the heaviest weaponry at their disposal."

~:::~

 

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/93967.html)...

[](http://www.statcounter.com/)

 


	15. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
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_**Superman for Sale - Chapter 14**_  
**Title: **[Superman for Sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  5,565  
**Short summary of this chapter: ** Clark has to deal with the monstrous robotic spider and Lex has to deal with the aftermath.

Previous updates [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/64253.html).

Part 14 of 15 (epilogue still to come)...

 

 

~:::~

Clark, dazed and woozy, staggered to his feet. He had to push aside the ruined Lincoln Navigator he'd crumpled when the huge robotic spider had knocked him into it. 

 

He'd landed in the shadow of a building about two blocks from Lex's office building. The humongous robotic spider was again heading in the direction of Lexcorp. Clark didn't think that it was a coincidence that Lex announced he's shutting down his weapons divisions on a day a rogue weapon-like robotic spider goes on a rampage. Someone didn't seem to be happy with what Lex was doing with his defense contract divisions.

 

Clark sighed and flew up above the line of buildings he was shaded by. He burst into the bright morning sunlight and basked in it for a moment to let his body recharge. As he looked down on the still slowly advancing machine, he got a better look at what else was going on. He could see the Metropolis PD, no doubt used to this kind of thing with the various planetary invasions and the last swarm of flying robotic monkeys that Lex had lost control of, were already well under way with dealing with the threat the huge spider posed to the populace. They'd rolled all of their numerous S.W.A.T. teams and their Special Taskforce On Robotic Threats, or STORT. 

 

Clark grimaced at the unfortunate acronym, but was glad they were on the job. He was relieved when he saw that the regular beat officers were organizing orderly evacuations of the buildings in the vicinity.   Office buildings in downtown, all used to same sort of threat this thing posed to their workers, all had their fire alarms going and their employees and any visitors were heading to the exits of the buildings that were away from the Giant Robot Spider's path of destruction. 

 

The streets were now deserted except for the police, Clark and, of course, the robot.

 

Glad that the people of Metropolis were no longer in any direct danger, he reoriented on the robotic spider and tried to think of the best way to attack it. The thing had two heads, one in the front and the other in the back. It seemed impervious to heat vision so he couldn't do a distance attack and there'd be no way to sneak up on it from behind.

 

He had to come at it from the side. However, it was so big it took up the entire street, so Clark had to get it when it got to an intersection. He looked at it and tried to gauge when it was going to come up on the next cross street.

 

Recharged, he gritted his teeth and, above the streets, zoomed in between the buildings.   Still a couple of stories high, he pulled up and pressed his body against the building on the next corner. He could feel the vibrations of the robot coming closer through the granite of the old building. 

 

He heard several helicopters approach. He looked up and frowned, added to the dozens of things he had to keep track of in order to keep Metropolitans as safe as he could while trying to fight the monster there were now TV station helicopters heading his way, trying to get the battle on camera.

 

Clark sighed and gritted his teeth at the thing started to go past the building he was hiding behind, heading into an intersection only two blocks from Lexcorp. He had to stay on task.

 

He ran into the thing full speed from the side and it only rocked to the side, but it did pause in its advance. He fell back several dozen yards to get a better look at the thing, hanging mid-air just out of reach of its remarkably powerful legs. He'd been batted aside one too many times and he didn't want to give it another chance.

 

However, the thing didn't apparently have a good look at him from the side, so it started to rotate its position so it could orient one of its 'heads' on his location better.

 

Clark grinned fiercely. Maybe he could act like bait and draw it away from the more populated downtown area. There was a less dense industrial area that started only a few blocks behind him.

 

He feinted just close enough to tempt the thing to try again to bat him from the sky.   The thing swung and Clark, expecting the attempt, was able to pull back in time, but he had to use his speed.

 

_That thing is quick_, he thought.

 

The robotic spider almost looked angry. The front legs it had brought to bear on Clark shook, as if with rage. The thing didn't look complicated enough to have a high amount of Artificial Intelligence so that didn't make any sense.

 

He scowled at it.

 

The thing's skin was lined with lead, so he couldn't see inside, but he knew that there wasn't a person running things from inside the machine either. There was no hint of a human inhabitant: he couldn't hear a heartbeat or the sounds of respiration. Remote control was the only thing he could figure, but the person running the machine had to be close. The machine maneuvered well through downtown and managed to keep him at bay to boot. Whoever was running it must be able to see the downtown area.

 

Or, he thought it more likely, they had to have cameras onboard the thing. They were watching what this thing could 'see' with its 'eyes' and were steering it, like a remote controlled car, only it wasn't a car. It was a machine designed to destroy and he couldn't apparently hurt it with his heat vision, so he couldn't knock out the cameras from a distance.

 

His anger grew.

 

He feinted again, and quickly pulled back, but the person (or persons) running the controls of the thing must have learned to time their swings better because this time the robotic spider was able to land a glancing blow. Clark tumbled through the air and, breaking through the window, crash landed in the third floor corner office of a startled man wearing an expensive looking suit. The short, rotund man looked arrogant and stuffy, maybe a lawyer or stock broker. He looked at Clark from behind his computer monitor, which was obscenely huge.

 

The building's fire alarm, a warning to evacuate, was blaring. Yet the guy ignored it and was working on his computer.

 

Superman stood slowly and brushed the broken glass from his uniform. He took the sternest tone with the man he could as the fire alarm continued to sound from the hallway just outside his door.   "There is an emergency, so you need to follow your company's emergency procedures. The same ones you should have practiced according to city codes dictating routine practice fire drills for all high rise buildings in downtown."

 

The man managed to act cool and dignified, apparently oblivious to the giant robotic spider going past the window just behind him.  "It isn't necessary to evacuate, Superman. I talked to building security, there isn't really a fire."

 

"That is true, there is no fire." He stated matter-of-factly, "However, I would like to point out that you probably don't want to be in the vicinity of this room when I go back outside..." He glanced and nodded at the window behind the man, the one that Clark hadn't crashed through.  "And fight that."

 

The man turned and saw what Clark was talking about. Superman could see the color literally drain from the man's face. All dignity lost, the man squeaked in alarm and ran from the room. Clark raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.

 

The fat little man ran a lot faster than Clark would have thought he would have been capable of.

 

Clark shrugged and flew as fast as he could, bursting through the unbroken window, and hit the thing harder this time. The thing shuddered with the impact, but it had been ready, despite apparently not having a good view of things happening to the side.   One of its legs hit him in a downward motion, smashing him into a Hummer.

 

The expensive steel, and notoriously rugged, machine was still no match for a robotic spider when it knocked a 225 pound Kryptonian at full speed into its roof. The SUV crumpled as its alarm sounded drunkenly.

 

The huge robotic spider had to back up to turn around so that Clark was again in full view of the cameras on its 'head'. It reared back on its hind legs and aimed the two kryptonite pulse beam canons at Clark.

 

"Uh, oh," he zoomed up into the air with a touch of speed. Clark only narrowly missed getting hit. 

 

He hovered about fifty feet above it and he considered his options. The thing, or whoever was running it, was learning. It was adapting to his attacks and it was tough enough and fast enough to be a real threat to him. This thing wasn't going to be easy to take down.

 

As he hung up in the air, he thought about what he should try next. He looked down on the thing and Clark could see the heads swiveling back and forth as it tried to discover where he had gone. He realized the thing couldn't 'see' him at all where he was. 

 

He took advantage of the pause to examine the thing more closely. He had no problem using his telescopic vision, but the lead made it so he couldn't see anything not directly in his line of sight. There was a shimmering light over the thing's body, an apparent shield of some kind.

 

He sighed as the thing started to move, it was turning around to no doubt again head toward Lex's office. The creator of this thing apparently had a thing against Lexcorp.

 

Frustrated, Clark hit it from the top with a blast of heat vision and it again halted like it had before, despite the heat vision doing no apparent damage. This time, Clark had a better look at it and it was easier to see why. 

 

Power was being drawn away from its other functions to reinforce its electromagnetic defenses. The shield, which covered its body like a curved transparent cover, sparkled in the shadow of the building it had batted Clark into.   That explained why the heat vision wasn't working. He needed to find the power source for the shielding and disable it or he was going to have problems with this thing.

 

He realized too late that thinking about other things probably hadn't been the thing to do. He had been completely surprised when a long serpentine arm had shot up behind him and knocked him to the pavement at the thing's feet, right underneath the meteor-rock pulse beam canons. No need for the thing to rear back. Stunned by the collision with the street, Clark was shot with twin beams of green light before he could react.

 

He was in agony.   Convinced he was about to die, crushed underneath one of the machine's heavy legs, he was surprised when the thing turned away from him. Even though Clark was helpless and vulnerable, it turned and headed back toward Lexcorp. 

 

Shaking his head to clear it as he stood, Clark was confused. The thing must have been designed to take him down, it was too tough and quick and armed with way too much kryptonite for it to be a coincidence. Yet whoever was running it wasn't interested in doing more than disabling him.  For whatever reason, its real goal appeared to be Lexcorp. 

 

Clark's worry turned to Lex, Lois, Jimmy and the other reporters and photographers that he knew that had been in that conference room.

 

He searched with his x-ray vision and he could see most of the reporters that had been in that conference had evacuated, but he couldn't see Lex, Lois, Jimmy, Mercy or Hope. His worry grew.   He searched out Lex's heart beat and found him. He was getting closer. A quick look showed that Lex was running toward the intersection where Clark had forced the thing to turn away from Lexcorp.

 

Lex was running toward the robot, putting himself into danger? Why? 

 

Confused, he got out of the shadow of the building and into the golden morning sunshine. It was warm on his skin and revived him, so he was able to shake off the last of the effects of the kryptonite pulse beams. It would appear that the effects weren't permanent since it left no residue (as long his exposure wasn't extended and he could get some sun), and again rose into the air. He looked to where Lex was just he pulled up and slid in behind a delivery truck.

 

Just before Clark slammed into the side of the robotic spider, out of the corner of his eye he saw Lex draw a pulse beam rifle, essentially a smaller version of what the thing had been using on him (just without the kryptonite), and fire. Clark didn't see what the immediate affects were because it was at that same moment he slammed into the side of the thing with both balled fists.

 

He hit the thing the hardest he could, trying to knock it onto its side so its multiple legs and the pulse beam canons would be less effective, but it was no use.   It had too many legs to be rocked off its feet that easily, although he came closer that time.

 

This time, however, the electromagnetic shielding immediately charged with a whine and repelled him, sending him flying blocks away. He hit the pavement in a blinding flash of pain. Stunned, he lay in the crater his body had created in the street just in front of The Daily Planet building. 

 

He crawled out of it to a spattering of applause from some of Daily Planet employees he recognized, he was about to call some by name when he remembered that 'Superman' wouldn't know them, he only knew them as 'Clark'...

 

Clark dropped the tone of his voice to a deep, yet comforting, and very Superman-like tone. "You folks should clear the area, I have this covered."

 

His voice held a slight waver of uncertainty that he had hoped wasn't noticeable, but he wasn't sure that he was close to having anything covered at this point. He looked around and located the robotic monster. 

 

It had halted a block and a half away from the Lexcorp building and was firing at Lex. Hope was lying on top of him as Mercy and a large of contingent of Lexcorp security staff and the elite of the STORT forces took on the robot. The Lexcorp security team used EM pulse rifles and the municipal forces used rocket propelled grenades that were surprisingly powerful. 

 

Lois and Jimmy looked on from the cover of a burnt out hulk of one of the tanks the STORT forces must have arrived in. Jimmy was snapping photos as Lois rattled off lines from the story she was going to write on this into a digital voice recorder she always kept in her pocket. Always on the job.

 

He sighed.

 

It's why their relationship hadn't lasted. She was married to her job, so there hadn't really been any room in her life for him. It turned out that Clark discovering that he was gay had almost been incidental to why it would have never worked long term with him and Lois.

 

Refocusing on the task at hand, he looked at the smoking ruin of the tank Lois was crouched behind.

 

Clark was worried. 

 

The robot took down tanks as if they were made of tinfoil and batted him from the air like he was a badminton birdie. The thing appeared nearly unbeatable.

 

Clark brushed himself off as he saw the thing pause in its attack to put more charge into its shields. Hope took the opportunity to drag an unwilling Lex to safety, away from the Lexcorp office tower and that machine. He sighed in relief, thinking Lex would be safe.   As he thought about what his next attack should be, a surprising thing happened. 

 

The thing turned from its battle with the police and the Lexcorp forces to follow Lex.

 

Clark's heart clenched with a sudden fear.

 

That thing wasn't just after Lexcorp, it was apparently after _Lex_.

 

He realized with a growing dread that if he didn't stop the thing, it was going to kill Lex Luthor. 

 

Time again stretched as he panicked for a moment, although it really had happened in the blink of an eye. The thought of Lex getting hurt, really hurt, or killed alarmed him.

 

Clark frowned, confused.

 

He was wrong. The thought of losing Lex didn't just alarm him.

 

It terrified him, even petrified, him.

 

He couldn't bear the thought of losing Lex. With a shock, Clark realized he could finally answer his mother's question, 'Do you love him?'

 

A feeling of love suffused his whole body as he looked at Lex.

 

The epiphany rocked him to his core and somehow, in someway, Lex knew it had. He looked over Hope's shoulder at Clark as his bodyguard hurried him down a side street. Despite the hope visible on Lex's face and the love growing inside Clark, the thing had no idea anything had changed and kept on following Lex.

 

Now that Clark knew for sure, really knew and had no doubts about his love for Lex, a steely new determination to beat the thing resolved itself in his mind.   He would kill that thing before it could hurt anyone else, much less Lex, or he would die trying.

 

He had to defeat it, no matter what the cost.

 

Lex recognized, somehow, that's what Clark had planned. He shrugged off Mercy and called out to Clark, "Don't!"

 

Clark shook his head and gritted his teeth as he put on a burst of speed. He summoned all the strength he had in his body and again plowed into the thing. This time, instead of open fists, he rammed into it with his hands open. He grabbed sections of hull, still only steel that was reinforced with electromagnetic shielding, as he felt the machine's body shudder with the almost explosive impact.

 

The EM defenses kept him from doing any serious damage, but because he was holding onto the hull Clark wasn't repulsed when the thing had turned up the deflectors. The energy sparked and surged, painfully trying to push him away from the thing's thick metal skin.

 

Clark screamed in anger and frustration as he pushed hard against the force field that was slowly, and painfully, pushing him away. The electromagnetic shielding was incredibly strong, but his hands held onto the hull and part of a major support strut. Applying his powers of flight, strength and speed to the task, he managed to hang on and dig his fists deeper into the thing's body, pulling apart tubes and wire and bending metal support struts.

 

He was surprised when the machine's serpentine arm, the one that had batted him away before, had begun to wrap around his waist.   Too busy trying to hang onto its hard armored hull, Clark couldn't spare a hand to try and keep it from wrapping around him. He knew that taking the thing apart was more important. He felt confident that he would be able to take this thing down, given some time.

 

The shield had weakened a considerable amount and Clark thought he was close to exhausting the energy it had used to power its guns and force fields. Taking what he thought was an advantage, Clark pressed his opportunity and his position on the thing's side had seemed less precarious.  He managed to open the hole in its hull wider and pull out more wires.  However, the apparent weakening had turned out to have been only a momentary shift in the tide of the battle. 

 

Although the kryptonite EM pulse canons of the monstrous robot couldn't hit him directly with his position on the thing's side (he was just out of range), the machine started firing the guns off as close as it could get them to Clark. The beams didn't touch him, they were blasting holes in the side of an office building, but the kryptonite rays were close enough to weaken him. 

 

It was the edge that the thing had needed.

 

His flight ability faltered.   He also lost strength and had no speed left. He quickly lost any ability to push against the pressure of the shielding; he lost his grip, so the flexible arm was finally able to pull him off of the hull.

 

He struggled futilely as the arm moved him out in front of the kryptonite pulse beam and he screamed in agony. Bathed in the ghoulish green light, the kryptonite rays painfully weakened him and his cries died, turning into breathless gasps, as the serpentine coils tightened around his chest and waist, painfully squeezing his chest, cutting off his air. Clark couldn't breathe.

 

Desperate, he tried as hard as he could to pull it off, but he was far too weak. The coils tightened further and he couldn't stop it.

 

Clark was losing consciousness as he felt something snap in his chest and tasted blood as agony blossomed through his body.

 

There was a loud explosion very close by and he was enveloped in pain as he felt himself thrown clear of the machine. He hit something hard, then the sound of breaking glass and crunching metal met his ears as black overcame him...

 

~:::~

 

Partially thanks to Clark's pushing so hard, the shielding on the machine had failed and the police department RPGs finally had taken the thing out.  Lex saw Clark get thrown into the tenth floor of Lexcorp when the robot exploded. He rushed past the smoking ruin that was the giant robot spider and went back to his office building. 

 

Mercy and Hope called out to him to stop, but he ignored them. He knew Clark needed his help and needed it now. He had felt such frustration and helplessness from Clark, but now he felt nothing at all. 

 

Panic was rising in him as he pushed open the door to the lobby. He looked over his shoulder and yelled at them, "Call 911, now!" 

 

~:::~

 

Up on the tenth floor, Lex and Mercy shifted the rubble as quickly as they could to try and uncover Superman. He could hear Hope giving directions and information to the emergency operator behind them. 

 

Lex was frantic, he could smell the slightly sweet smell of Kryptonian blood, it didn't smell as metallic as human, and he knew only that Clark had been hurt seriously enough to bleed. He followed the scent to its source, a pile of rubble that used to be a marketing VP's office.

 

Lex and Mercy shifted a large chunk of the office's wall and Lex saw some red fabric, Clark's cape. He was worried when he still couldn't feel anything from Clark, he wasn't conscious, but was he still breathing? He had to make sure...

 

Despite the fact that he knew that Clark couldn't hear him, he still called out, "Clark, we're going to get you out! Hang in there..." He didn't think his voice cracked, but Mercy gave him a look. Lex ignored her and kept talking to Clark, "Everything is going to be okay..."

 

With Mercy's help, he shifted the remains of a large desk. They found Clark lying in a pool of blood. 

 

Clark was out cold, but breathing. However, his breath came in shallow, ragged gasps.

 

Lex realized with a glance that Clark couldn't be moved until help arrived, he was too badly hurt. He couldn't take a chance his spine had been injured. One arm appeared broken along with both of his legs. It was his left leg that was bleeding profusely, the red blood coming out in rhythmic gushes that no doubt kept time with Clark's heart beat, all thanks to a compound fracture of his thigh. 

 

Clark was about to bleed out, but Mercy removed her belt and tightened it around his upper leg. The bleeding slowed to almost nothing. Lex futilely tried to reassure Clark (or more likely, himself). "I'll get you out of here, Clark. Help is coming..."

 

Unconscious, Clark didn't respond. Lex touched his cheek and was surprised how cold his normally warm skin was.

 

He looked so pale and was so still, Clark appeared close to death, but Lex wasn't going to give up. He couldn't do a thing to help him, he felt so helpless, but Lex decided that he refused to let Clark die.   He would keep the love of his life alive, even if he had to do it solely through the strength of his will.

 

Resolved, Lex gritted his teeth and said, "No, you're not going to leave me."  Lex gently held Clark's hand from his unbroken arm, a sadly affectionate smile touching his face, and added quietly, "I won't let you use a rogue robotic spider to get out of our deal..."

 

Lex heard the sound of approaching sirens. "You'll be fine, you'll see. I'm going to make sure of it." 

 

He waited with Clark as he heard Hope still talking to the 911 operator, giving directions to their location. He held Clark's hand as he knelt in a pool of his blood, quietly waiting for the rescue crew that would save Clark's life.

 

~:::~

 

The paramedics had told Lex that finding Superman when they did, and Mercy putting a tourniquet around his leg, had probably saved his life. However, they also thought it was a miracle that Superman was still breathing since he had no discernable blood pressure and his heartbeat was so faint. 

 

Lex watched sadly as they had put in an IV line to get some fluids into Clark. They had no problems getting it started and that made Lex realize just how vulnerable Clark was. He was so weak his normally bulletproof skin couldn't even protect him from a small needle.

 

~:::~

 

Later, at the hospital, the first hours were agony for Lex. They'd operated on Clark's chest, leg, and set his bones. They'd put him back together enough that he wasn't in any immediate danger of dying, but his blood pressure was still incredibly low.

 

A human would have died before his blood pressure could get even close to being that low. The heart wouldn't have had enough blood in it to keep on pumping.

 

The doctor had told Lex that they had stored up a back-up supply of Superman's blood, stock-pilling a pint a month for a year (stored in sunlight so it would never go bad), so they had plenty to give him.  Vulnerable and deprived of sunshine, afternoon thunderstorms had moved over Metropolis, the stored solar energy in the blood was probably Superman's best chance for a recovery. 

 

Despite the surgery and transfusions stabilizing his condition, it would take Clark at least several days to recover, if he ever did. The doctor didn't know for sure since, to his knowledge, Superman had never been hurt this badly before.   

 

He had grimly told Lex that Superman's family and friends should be notified of his condition. 

 

Accepting just how serious Clark was injured, he nodded solemnly, as the fear for his safety threatened to overwhelm Lex.

 

He was nearly completely unable to cope as he tried to contact Mrs. Kent.  She was on her way back to Washington to attend a special session of Congress, so she had been in the air as her son had laid dying in Lex's Marketing VP's office. Desperate, it had taken Lex hours to get hold of her.  

 

Lois walked into the waiting room as he finally talked to Clark's mother. She'd only seen the video from that morning while she waited for her bags at Reagan National. Frantic, she would get back as soon as she could.  

 

Lois hugged him after he had hung up. It was only her comforting, warm embrace that kept him from breaking down altogether.

 

Chloe was in Phoenix working on a story, but she'd seen the news reports on TV, the video from the helicopters that showed Clark getting injured. However, she was having problems booking a flight and couldn't back to Metropolis before morning, a redeye the only available flight on such short notice, but she told him that she would be there. 

 

Lana, in Marseilles for a fashion show, said it would take at least a day, maybe a couple, but that she would get there too. The news reports on the French stations had broken her heart. 

 

He hoped they both hurried because Clark's injuries were so serious and he looked so pale and his skin was so cold.

 

Clark looked terrible. He had bruises, cuts and scrapes all over his body, but most, like the injuries on his face, were concentrated on the left side. That was the side that had hit first when he had been thrown though the side of his building by the exploding robot.   

 

His right leg was broken, it was in a cast to the knee, but his left leg had been shattered.   They'd had to operate and place external fixators to stabilize the bones all up and down the limb. The hardware holding his leg together had half a dozen rings that circled the limb, with pins radiating from them into his bones at a dozen different points of his leg. The metal pins would keep his severely fractured bones stable until Clark's abilities reasserted themselves and he could heal the rest of the way on his own.

 

There were bandaged incisions up and down his left leg and on his chest, where they had repaired some of the internal damage. Both legs were elevated to keep them from getting any more swollen than they already were. His left arm was in a cast that went up past his elbow and was immobilized by a sling. The left side of Clark's face was battered and swollen and his breathing was ragged from all his cracked and broken ribs.

 

As he looked at Clark's battered body, Lex tried to bear it. He tried to be strong, but he had to fight the urge to break down in his agonizing worry. 

 

He'd never seen anyone as badly hurt as Clark was. How could Clark survive long enough for his abilities to recover and allow him to heal? 

 

Worse than any of that, Lex also felt guilty. Mercy had discovered, while Lex had waited with Clark, that it had been completely Lex's fault. She hadn't said that, but it was his fault just the same.

 

The design hadn't been exactly like the design that Lex had developed, it had been a modified version of his plans which had made some very lethal changes.  The man who had built it had been an employee and had constructed the thing with Lexcorp's corporate resources.  His original plan had been to complete a weapon he thought Lex was wrong for not constructing. However, when the plans Lex had for shutting his weapons division had been rumored, the man changed the plan and decided to turn the weapon against his boss.

 

He should have known, it had taken the man months to create the robotic monster and it'd taken nearly a hundred million dollars worth of Lexcorp material set aside for research for him to build the thing. He should have caught the man before it had gotten this far. The man was still on the loose, but the police called and told Lex that they were closing in.

 

Lex couldn't feel Clark's emotions since he was unconscious. Added to his guilt, the absence of Clark's feelings just made things more difficult. He'd gotten so used to feeling them all the time. Not sensing them doubled his pain and made it far worse to bear.

 

Hours later, while wearing clothing still stained with Clark's blood, Lex sat next to his bedside as blood dripped into him and an oxygen mask covered half his face. A thunderstorm raged outside and the constant sound of the rain pelting the windows made all other sounds seem muffled.

 

Careful of the IV lines attached, Lex gently held Clark's right hand. His hand felt far too cold. Clark's skin was always warm, almost fever hot.   It only added to the unreality of the situation. He looked toward the window, he wished for the sun to shine on Clark and make his skin warm and golden again.

 

Part of Lex thought it was all some sort of nightmare and that Clark would soon wake, but it wasn't a dream. 

 

It was real.

 

His eyes stung with unshed tears as he looked at Clark, the center of his universe, now so still and cold.

 

Lex looked up as he heard hurried footsteps come down the hallway. He stood as Clark's mother stepped into the room. 

 

Her face said it all: Martha was white as a sheet and looked like she'd been crying. She started to cry again when she saw Clark. Yet, her red-rimmed eyes shifted to Lex. She rushed to him and pulled him into her arms.

 

It wasn't until then, wrapped in Martha's warm arms, that Lex finally broke down and cried.

~:::~ [](http://www.statcounter.com/wordpress.com/)

 

Continued [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/94434.html)....


	16. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:** |   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:** |   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_ **Superman for Sale - Chapter 15 A** _

**Title: **[Superman for Sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  2,967, for Part A (8,067 for Chapter 15, )  
**Short summary of this chapter: ** Lex has trouble dealing with Clark's injuries and Clark wakes up more confused than ever... 

Previous updates [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/64253.html).

Part A of two parts, 15B up next... (epilogue still to come)...

 

~:::~

 

After taking a short break the next morning, Lex went back into Clark's hospital room and stood and watched for a moment as Martha gently held her son's hand, as his face was bathed in sunlight. His face looked less ashen, but he was still unconscious.   Clark was being kept heavily sedated to help him heal so Lex still couldn't sense what he was feeling.

 

Free of that anchor, Lex felt lost.

 

He stood at Clark's bedside and looked down at the casts and the external fixators that were keeping his bones together. There were a lot of tubes and wires running from his body, as the blood continued to drip into an IV line. Clark looked so pale and was so still. The constant beeping of monitors and the raspy rise and fall of his chest were the only things that assured Lex that Clark still lived. 

 

As he looked at the man he loved cling desperately to life, he again felt close to breaking down. Lex spoke in a whisper, as if what he said was too fragile to speak out loud, "I don't know what to do... I don't know how I can bear this."

 

Clark's mother turned to him and replied in a husky whisper, "You're strong and my son is strong. You'll both get through this."

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"Because I do..."

 

"How can you be so sure?"

 

"I have faith in the power of my son's body, but I also have faith in the strength of your love."

 

He was surprised by that, "My love? It wasn't meant to be. How can that even work? He's Superman and I'm Lex Luthor..." He sighed as he looked at the man he loves lay unconscious in bed. 

 

"I saw the video of the press conference. I know you love him, Lex."

 

"I don't know how or why. It completely snuck up on me. One minute I was buying him from a witch, the next moment, so unexpectedly, I discovered that I loved him so much that I can't imagine living without him.  Suddenly, he's the most important person in the world to me. "

 

She looked back at him, her face still pale and her make-up smeared.  She managed a small smile. "I'm not sure it was all that sudden, you two have danced around each other almost since you hit Clark with your car."

 

Lex tried to return her smile, but he thought it had come out more like a grimace. "Was it that obvious even back then?"

 

She bravely smiled back, "Yes, it was."

 

"It's impossible." Lex shook his head, "He doesn't want a relationship. He doesn't love me. Clark hates me and he's fought me almost every minute since that witch had held up the sign that said 'Superman for Sale'..."

 

He shook his head, now unable to conceive of a reality where the two of them could be together.  Lex's voice cracked, but he couldn't help it as his eyes stung with unshed tears. "Sometimes I think he can't stand the sight of me."

 

"You know that's not true, Lex. I don't know if he loves you, that's for him to say, but he never hated you, not even when you two were going at each other all the time." She looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned back to Clark. "He probably hadn't told you much about when he was little, he wouldn't have had a chance given how you two used to be. However, he hasn't changed much since then.   He's never liked to be forced to do things."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

She smiled warmly down at her son as she talked, "Well, when he first came, we loved him at once. He was adorable and looked far more vulnerable than he actually was, but the biggest problem was that he couldn't speak English.

 

"He quickly learned words, but English syntax wasn't easy for him to grasp at first.   Forming sentences and really understanding what was being said was so hard for him. He was extremely stubborn even as a toddler and he was so strong. Yet, we couldn't really talk to him. It was a maddening mix and he would get into trouble. He would break things and make people notice him." 

 

She leaned forward and brushed a stray curl from Clark's forehead.  "I was so worried what would happen. My instinct was to carry him around like a baby until we knew he could understand. However, when I did that it made him so unhappy he'd cry. I didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was expected, and we couldn't talk to him about it.  Everything was 'No, Clark' or 'Don't, Clark'. I hated always saying no to him. Yet, I was petrified he'd get hurt or, worse, get taken away, but Jonathan had told me not to even try to hold him back. He had faith that Clark would learn and, eventually, he did." 

 

Tears had welled up in her eyes as she had recounted the story. She looked up at him as she gently held Clark's hand, "It was hard, but I learned to just let go."  She took hold of Lex's hand with her free one. Her tiny, soft hand held his firmly. "You've got to learn to let go too. If you hold onto him too tight, he'll fight you. He'll never be happy."

 

Lex quietly asked, "What if I let him go and he doesn't come back? What would I do then?"

 

"It's a risk you're going to have to take, but if he does come back it'd be his choice and you'll have his whole heart."  She looked up at Lex. "Wouldn't you want him with you because it's what he wishes, not because you forced him to stay?"

 

She was right, of course that's what he wanted, but was he ever going to get it?  

 

He had nothing to say to that, but took the stone out of his pocket and looked at it. He felt the warmth of the stone that connected him to Clark and sighed heavily. He looked down at her still pale face and worried.

 

Martha had sat up with Clark all night the night before and was clearly tired, so she retreated to a room the nurses had kept for her. She left to rest for a few hours and Lex took her place at Clark's bedside.  

 

He took Clark's cold hand and just held it as the warm sunlight that came in through the window slowly recharged Superman's depleted physical reserves.

 

~:::~

 

Off and on, Lex sat with Clark for the rest of that day and most of the next, relieving Martha. He would have to insist she eat, drink or go back to the room the hospital had set aside for her to sleep, but she probably should have done the same to him. Uncharacteristically, she never did. She was too worried about her son to notice Lex quietly falling apart.

 

So Mercy took the task of nagging Lex, but he had her at a disadvantage. He was her boss and had veto rights over any suggestions of hers that he didn't agree with, like doing anything that required leaving Clark's side.

 

Clark still slept long after the drugs should have worn off. They couldn't give him anymore because the needle from the IV line had come out and they couldn't reinsert it.  Also, the pins extending into Clark's leg from the external fixators were pushed out, wrenching the metal screws out of shape. It took power tools to get the hardware removed from around Clark's leg. Lex was relieved because all that meant Clark was getting better, but he slept so deeply Lex still couldn't feel a thing from him.

 

Alone with still out cold Clark the night after he'd talked with Martha, Lex unfortunately had time to think.

 

He thought about what Martha had said and realized she had been right. The biggest problem with the situation with Clark was that he was still forcing him to stay.

 

With his new insights on life, thanks to his epiphany during the tsunami, Lex realized he had been wrong to manipulate Clark into the deal when he hadn't been negotiating in good faith. He had planned on killing the witch, but after the spell had been completed that hadn't seemed like the thing to do anymore. 

 

So, Clark had given up a month of his life to keep him from doing something he probably wasn't going to do anyway, not once he had become bonded to Clark and that stone. He justified manipulating Clark into staying so he could seduce Clark once he was in his penthouse, but that didn't really work out like he'd thought it would either.

 

He wasn't sorry that had happened. Lex wouldn't have let her sell him to anyone else, even without the allure of the spell. He couldn't have stood the thought of anyone else beside him having that much control over Clark.

 

But that was the thing then, wasn't it? 

 

He had always wanted to control Clark, or thought he had, but now he knew that he'd been wrong. Ironically, it was thanks to the consequences of the witch's binding spell that allowed him to control Clark that showed him that wasn't what he really wanted. 

 

Lex wanted Clark to stay because it was his choice. He wanted Clark to love him as much as he loved Clark.

 

He sighed and thought about the witch and her lover, wondered what they were up to.

 

Lex still hadn't taken the money back, but that was only because he couldn't find it. He had been waiting for her to make a mistake, reveal what secret numbered account she'd hidden the money in, it had left the account his banker had deposited it into moments after he'd arranged for the transfer, but he hadn't been able to trace where it she had sent it after that. 

 

He had been going to investigate, but he had gotten distracted by living with Clark and just forgot to pursue it any further. She still had the money and had probably already spent a great deal of it. The last report Mercy had given him on the witch she was driving a new Rolls Royce and her lover had a Bentley. 

 

He was idly curious how much of the money was left.

 

The deal he'd made with the witch for Clark hadn't turned out the way he'd thought it would have. The stone hadn't been the Superman remote-control he'd thought it'd be, but it had still changed his life. 

 

The money and the witch didn't really matter now, but twenty million was a cheap price to pay for Clark's life and the changes to his.

 

Had he to do it over again Lex would still do the same thing, even if it would have been at a thousand times what he'd paid, but what was the cost now? Could he still continue to force Clark to stay the rest of the thirty days and earn his love? 

 

That made him think of the date and he looked at his watch. He swore softly and looked up to see Martha walking in. 

 

He apologized to her, "I'm sorry, but I have to leave." 

 

She looked confused. "What? Why?"

 

"You were right, Mrs. Kent."

 

"Please call me Martha..."

 

Lex sighed, "Martha, I have to let him go. Please tell Clark I'm sorry, but I won't be back." He turned to walk out the door and paused to look at her over his shoulder. "His things will be returned to his apartment before he gets out of the hospital."

 

"You aren't going to wait until he wakes up so you could talk to him about it?"

 

"No, I think its best if I just go."

 

"Leaving without a word isn't what I'd had in mind when I recommended you let Clark go..."

 

Resolved, Lex shook his head. "It has to be his decision so it has to be this way.  If he wants to talk to me about it when he gets better, he knows how to find me."

 

It hurt to leave, but he felt he had to do it. He had to do the right thing, whether he liked it or not, and it was the right thing to let Clark go. Staying or leaving was now Clark's decision to make, not Lex's, not the witch's.

 

Lex looked one more time at the man he loved before he pushed the heavy door open and left.

 

~:::~

 

 

The next evening, Clark woke to a world that was strangely silent except for a faint beeping, medical instruments of some kind. His hearing wasn't super, he'd lost his abilities and felt weak. However, when he finally opened his eyes, everything looked blurry. He had to blink several times to get things back into focus.

 

He was in a bed, maybe a hospital bed. His head was raised, and his both his legs were elevated. The right one felt like it was held in something hard up to his knee; a cast. The left was wrapped in bandages that went to his thigh. Oddly, it itched in lines that ran up both sides of his leg.   He couldn't scratch the itch because the arm on the left side was in a cast.   That arm was in a sling and was laid across his stomach. The cast reached part way up his upper arm, his fingers curled around where it ended past his knuckles.

 

A petite blonde sat in a chair next to the bed.   Her face was turned away as she read a book held in delicate looking hands. Clark couldn't think who she was going from the back of her head, but he knew that she wasn't a nurse. Her clothes were too dark and she wore too much jewelry, a heavy earring dangled from the one ear he could see. 

 

He looked around a bit and realized that he was in a corner hospital room that had the curtains pulled back from the windows. The sun was setting and its rose colored light made the room look cheerier than it probably was.

 

Inexplicably anxious, it was difficult to know why. He felt odd, but he couldn't really pin down the cause. 

 

It was something more than being hurt.   He didn't still feel the pain he remembered from the fight with the robotic spider, the hurt had retreated into a general ache. No, it wasn't physical pain. There was something else wrong.

 

He looked around, confused, trying to figure out what it was, when he realized with a shock that there wasn't anything _wrong_. He realized that there was something _missing_...

 

He couldn't feel the phantom fingers.   

 

He had only not felt them before when Lex was either out cold or deeply asleep. Lex rarely got so drunk he'd pass out and sunset wasn't early enough for him to be sleeping. At least he wouldn't have been in bed this early normally, so the absence of the phantom fingers scared him.

 

Panicked by the implications, worried Lex had been hurt, Clark tried to speak. It came out a croak. He cleared his throat and swallowed hard as the blonde girl's head snapped up.   It was Chloe...

 

"Clark? You're awake!"

 

He tried to speak again, nothing came out. 

 

She frowned in concern. "You okay?"

 

He cleared his throat again. He was able to finally speak in a hoarse whisper, "Where's Lex...?" 

 

She looked confused, "I don't know, Clark. He was here the better part of the last couple of days, but I haven't seen him today at all." She wanted to change the subject so she smiled at him encouragingly, "Your mom is taking a break, but she'll be back in a few minutes. She's going to be happy to see you awake. She's hardly left your side the whole time you've been here."

 

Clark shook his head. "Lex..." He had to find him, so he sat up. When his muscles flexed the plaster cracked and the bandages ripped open, but sitting up made his head swim. 

 

As his vision pushed toward gray, Clark fell back onto his pillow. His breath came in gasps as he barely managed to hold onto consciousness as the room spun around him.  

 

"Oh my God, Clark..." Chloe picked up the pieces of the cast that had been on his arm. "Were you trying to leave? Why?"

 

He clamped his eyes shut, trying to stop the spinning.

 

She frowned, "You can't leave, you can't even stand..."

 

He whispered hoarsely and his speech was slurred, "Need t'see Lex... Make sure he's'okay..."

 

His mom rushed in from the hallway. "Sweetheart, Lex is okay. He's fine."

 

Clark was confused and he looked up at her, everything was disjointed and his eyesight had dimmed and blurry. It was like a fog bank had settled in over his bed. He was extremely tired and he could barely keep his eyes open, "Something happened... Can't feel him..."

 

His mother looked confused and held his hand. Her fingers felt surprisingly warm. "I don't know why that is, sweetheart, but he's fine. He had to leave, but you can talk to him once you're better..." She pulled back the covers and helped Chloe remove the rest of the cast pieces from the bed. "Just try to get some sleep..." She removed the ripped bandages and brushed short lengths of knotted black suture from his legs, along with the plaster dust from the destroyed casts.  

 

Clark frowned, did they operate? He could see the thin lines of a healed incision, but they started to disappear now that even the fading sunlight could finally shine directly on his skin. That explained the itching, which faded as the incision lines slowly disappeared.

 

He wanted to say something else, maybe ask his mom to call Lex, but Clark couldn't as the exhaustion finally overwhelmed him.   Sleep came, whether he wanted it to or not.

~:::~

[ ](http://www.statcounter.com/wordpress.org/)

Chapter 15 B [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/94677.html).


	17. Superman for Sale

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
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**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman for Sale - Chapter 15 B**_

**Title: **[Superman for Sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, some chapters are NC-17  
**Warnings: **Physical and Emotional TC, graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, BD/SM, future fic, post rift  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Word Count this chapter:**  5,091, for Part B (8,067 for Chapter 15, )  
**Short summary of this chapter: ** Lex has trouble dealing with Clark's injuries and Clark wakes up more confused than ever... 

Previous updates [HERE](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/64253.html).

Part B of a two part Chapter 15 of 15... (epilogue is done)...

 

 

When Clark woke the next morning, he felt a lot better, but there still were no phantom caresses from Lex.   They'd been a source of unwanted sensation, at times even cause for embarrassment, but they'd also been a comfort to him too.

 

He missed them, missed Lex.

 

Chloe had told him what Lex had done, rushing up to find him and Mercy putting the tourniquet on his leg that had likely saved his life.  His mother wouldn't say more than she had, that Lex had said he could go see him once he's better but that Lex wouldn't come back to see him at the hospital. She explained that Lex thought it was Clark's turn to decide what to do.

 

Frustrated, Clark asked her to call him for him, but she refused. 

 

"Why not, Mom? He can't just leave, not now."

 

"I thought you had wanted out of your deal with him. Why aren't you happy that he's let you go?"

 

Clark could only frown at that. He was very confused. His feelings were all mixed-up.  "I need to talk to him. He should know I'm going to be okay..."

 

"He knows sweetheart. Lex calls to check up on you. He's actually very concerned."

 

"Why'd he just leave then if he's so concerned? Something's wrong..."

 

"I'm not sure anything's wrong, Clark, but he's being as stubborn as you. I've asked him to reconsider and talk to you, but he's resolved. He said you know how to find him and that it's up to you to take the next step."

 

Clark could only scowl at his mother as he let his body soak up the morning rays of the warm yellow sunshine. 

 

He knew it'd be at least another day until he was strong enough to walk out of the hospital. Still too weak to fly, it was the only way he could go and see Lex.

 

His mother frowned at him and offered reassuringly, "Lex will come around, Clark. I think it's clear that he does sincerely love you. He thinks that this is the best thing to do, for whatever reason."

 

Clark felt a confusing mix of emotions and he didn't know how he felt, but his mother somehow knew what to do. She got in the bed next to him and pulled him into a hug.   Clark cuddled with his mother and felt comforted.

 

He fell asleep in warm sunlight while held in his mother's comforting arms.

 

~:::~

 

It took another day of resting in the sun before he felt recovered enough to walk out under his own power, even though it was against doctor's orders. They wanted him to stay another day, but he had to go talk to Lex. 

 

Perhaps ironically, he felt hurt that Lex had left. He'd been asking Lex to let him out of their deal for almost the entire time he'd been staying with him, so it just figured just when he decided that he loves Lex the other man leaves without saying a word.   Clark had finally seen the light and understood his own feelings better and that's just when Lex decides to turn tail and leave. 

 

Clark had to talk to Lex.

 

Straining his weak physical resources close to their currently very low limits, he'd used his hearing to hone in on Lex's location.   Clark looked at the clock on the wall. Unexpectedly, since it was just before lunch time, Lex was in the apartment.

 

Why was Lex in his penthouse in the middle of a business day? 

 

His mother had given Clark some of his clothes, a spare pair of glasses and his old red backpack that she'd retrieved from the Farm.

 

Tired, he dressed very slowly into an outfit that was similar to what he would have worn all those years ago when he and Lex had still been friends: a faded t-shirt, a plaid flannel shirt worn like a jacket, well-worn jeans and a pair of scuffed up leather work boots. The only thing he did differently from then to now was that he also wore glasses. 

 

He was dressed like Clark, a geeky farmboy from Kansas; not like Superman, a strange visitor from another planet.

 

He didn't want to wear a suit, either one actually, but he needed to go get the suit he'd been wearing the day that thing had attacked.

 

That suit had his wallet. He needed that since that was where he'd kept his card key to the penthouse elevator.

 

If he had been stronger, Clark could have sped up the steps or flown and landed on the balcony, but he figured it was probably just as well. He felt that he should have this talk with Lex dressed as himself, not as 'Superman', so 'Clark' wouldn't have gone to see Lex by adjusting his personal gravitational field or running up steps faster than was humanly possible.

 

With no cash since his wallet was with his suit, his mother lent him money so he could take a taxi to the building where he'd left it. He kissed her goodbye before climbing into the cab.

 

After he'd retrieved his wallet from the roof of a downtown office tower, which still had the card key in it (he checked), he threw everything else into his red backpack. He slowly walked the six blocks to Lex's building and used his card key to access the penthouse elevator for possibly the last time. He had half expected it to not work, that Lex had deactivated his cardkey, but it allowed him to call the private elevator like normal.

 

He stepped into the car, the tension rising, and waited for the doors to close before he pushed the button for the top floor. Inexplicably, sadness was mixed with other emotions, some he couldn't really identify. Resignation? Anxiety?  Hope?

 

Confused, he watched the indicator change until it stopped on the top floor. The door opened with an elegantly soft ding. Oddly, he now felt fear mixed in with all the other emotions...

 

He wanted to stop and sit down somewhere until he could figure out what it was he was feeling. He didn't want to talk to Lex without being completely clear on his feelings and resolved on what he wanted to say, but Mercy sitting at her usual post made him showing any weakness inadvisable. 

 

He frowned at her as he exited the elevator and crossed to the front door of the penthouse. To say that Clark was surprised when she spoke nicely to him was a bit of an understatement.

 

"Are you feeling better, sir?"

 

He hoped he hadn't gaped at her, he never would have expected her to ever address him as 'sir' (that implied a certain measure of respect that he didn't think she would ever feel toward him), but he suspected he might have been gaping since his mouth hung open. He closed it and tried to straighten a tie that wasn't there. He felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he lamely tried to cover that mistake by turning the motion into him adjusting the backpack on his shoulder.

 

"Yes, I'm a little tired, but I'll be fine." He was about to enter the apartment when he remembered his manners, "Thank you so much for asking, Miss Graves, and thank you for helping me when I got hurt."

 

"I'm glad you're better, sir, and I was happy to help." She smiled and politely shook her head, "But, please call me Mercy, sir."

 

Confused by her sudden formal address of him, Clark wasn't sure what to say. He attempted humor, but he was probably too tired to pull it off. It came off lame. "Okay, Mercy, but anyone who saves my life can call me Clark..." 

 

She smiled, despite the failed attempt at humor, "Of course, sir."

 

Clark noted that she still didn't call him by his name, but was confused by the whole conversation.  Uncomfortable with this nice version of Mercy Graves, a woman who'd only before shown him contempt and her surprisingly strong right hook, Clark simply said, "Okay, I guess I'll see you later." 

 

She smiled at him as he opened the door to the apartment. He closed it softly and listened, Lex was the only person in the penthouse and he was in Clark's room.

 

Suddenly nervous, he hesitated before walking down the hallway toward his room. Or, rather, walked toward his 'old' room. He wasn't sure it was his anymore.

 

He opened the door to find Lex standing at the picture window facing out toward the balcony.   Clark wasn't all that surprised to see his stuff packed in boxes, but that hurt for reasons he wasn't sure he knew.

 

Clark walked in and stood by the bed. Unsure how to start this conversation, Clark lamely said, "You packed everything up." He had hoped to keep the hurt from his voice, but didn't think that he had succeeded.

 

Lex didn't turn around, he simply sighed and nodded his head. He stuck his hands into his pockets and spoke quietly, "I told your mother that I'd have everything back in your apartment before you left the hospital, but you left early. Even so, I hadn't expected you to come back here."

 

The hurt was definitely in his voice when he spoke again, "If you hadn't wanted me to return, didn't want my calls, why is my key working?"

 

Clark felt a sudden rush of sadness rise up and he wasn't sure where it was coming from. 

 

Lex finally turned to Clark and softly replied, his voice regretful, "It had to be your choice, Clark. As for the key, I guess I was being optimistic, but I wanted you to come back.  You shouldn't ever think differently."

 

"You wanted me to come back? Why did you leave then? I asked for you while I lay helpless in that bed, but Mom told me that you didn't want to see me, that you wouldn't even take my calls. You claim to love me, but you left when I was hurt. You say it had to be my decision, but it wasn't my idea for you to leave.  People who love other people don't just walk out when they're still needed..."

 

Expecting to get a rise from Lex, Clark was surprised when he instead sounded hopeful. "You had told me almost every day that you wanted to leave, that I had put you into a situation you didn't want. Was I supposed to know you needed me?"

 

Clark was confused by that. "But you can feel what I'm feeling, right? Couldn't you feel that I needed you? Couldn't you feel it when I realized that I loved you during the fight?"

 

Lex turned around to look directly at Clark. "Yes, I do and I could, but I doubted it had meant anything had changed. You had felt that before for me and still pushed me away. I felt that whatever happened next had to be because you wanted it, not because I did."

 

"But you thought leaving without saying a word to me was good idea?" Clark felt a confusing tide of emotions rise up in him. Lex had basically had him under house arrest for nearly the past month yet he felt hurt that he was going to apparently let him go, send his things back to his apartment, because he was going to do it without speaking a word to him about it. He couldn't make sense of what he was feeling.

 

Lex looked at him with a very hard to read expression on his face. "I can feel you're confused..."

 

Clark replied almost petulantly, "I think anyone with eyes could probably realize that."

 

He smirked and ordered, "Come with me."

 

Lex walked past him and headed out to the hall. Clark's confusion increased, he didn't know what Lex was up to, but, curious, he followed.   Lex led him through the apartment and into the hallway that led to his bedroom.

 

Clark followed Lex into the bedroom, and hesitated. "What are we doing here?"

 

"I wanted to show you..." He opened the door to the closet and looked back at Clark. "Aren't you curious to see how it turned out?"

 

He was curious, so he followed Lex into the closet that was nearly as big as his bedroom in his apartment. He stopped and gaped in awe. Although Clark was faintly surprised to see that his clothes hung there, it was possibly the most beautiful closet he had ever seen.  

 

The rich mahogany cabinets and paneling perfectly matched the burgundy carpeting and the brass accents of the pull knobs and handles gave everything a richer appearance (if that was possible). The backs of the closets were paneled with unvarnished cedar planks, which gave the space an inviting scent as it protected his wool sweaters and jackets from moths, not that even a moth would have the guts to enter Lex Luthor's closet when it wasn't welcome. 

 

He dropped his back pack to the floor and pushed aside his clothes to see if he could find the secret compartment he'd seen roughed out before. Clark couldn't tell how to open the door he knew was there. He concentrated and focused his x-ray vision on the cedar lined panel, although using his powers tired him further and made his head swim. He found the catch and reached forward to open it, but he had to place his other hand against the wall for stability.

 

Lex sounded concerned behind him, "You okay, Clark?"

 

Clark opened the door and nodded, and lied. "I'm fine, just tired." 

 

He heard a small skeptical sound behind him, Lex didn't believe him, but Clark ignored him. The interior of the secret closet within the larger one was perfect. His suits and capes hung neatly inside and his boots were lined up on a shelf underneath them. Hooks held his trunks and belts.

 

Lex spoke from behind him, "So, what do you think?"

 

Another confusing tide of emotions rose up in Clark and he wasn't sure what to say, exactly.   "I'm not sure, but it's perfect, Lex."

 

"Why aren't you sure?"

 

Clark frowned and closed the door.   He looked at Lex. "I don't know, but I guess I'm confused. Why'd you finish the closet with its secret compartment if you weren't sure I would stay? Why'd you move my clothes in here if you were planning on sending them all back to my apartment tomorrow?"

 

He looked at Clark's clothes as he talked, "I was being optimistic, but I wanted to see how it looked with your clothes hanging there. I couldn't let you go just yet. It's why your boxes are still in the guest bedroom. Sending everything back seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of the possibilities between us." Lex sighed and then looked back at Clark. "I still want to know why it's hard for you to say what you think. Don't you know how you feel?"

 

Clark shrugged and, exhausted, he leaned against the chest that held his underwear, pajamas and socks. "I guess I'm just tired and my brain is all jumbled... I don't know, maybe it's a side-effect from my injuries. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, my feelings don't make sense..."

 

"Why? What are you feeling?"

 

He thought for several moments and tried to take stock: "I feel sad, confused, touched you made the closet perfect for me, but there's something else..." He thought for another moment and avoided saying 'love' and instead only said, "Elation? Why would I feel that?"

 

"You don't know why?"

 

"No, but I know something's changed." He looked at Lex, "I don't feel the fingers anymore."

 

"What fingers?"

 

"I called them the 'phantom fingers'; I always felt them before, now I don't."  Feeling a bit faint, and worried he was about to fall flat on his face, Clark sat down heavily on the small bench on his side of the closet. Oddly, he felt a wave of concern wash over him. 

 

Clark shook his head, in a vain attempt to clear it, and sighed. "With the witch, the sensation felt more like bugs crawling all over my skin, but with you they felt like fingers. I figured that the physical sensation reflected the general mood of the person who had control of the stone. She hated me, hated men, so the sensation was uncomfortable. With you, it was more like hundreds of hands touching me all at once. At times it would feel more erotic, other times it'd feel more comforting." Clark shrugged, "You said you loved me, maybe that's why they were fingers instead of bugs, but they're gone now."

 

Clark looked at Lex, who had a small smile on his face and he felt a wave of warm amusement hit him. Confused, he frowned.  "You know why they're gone don't you?"

 

Lex nodded and took the small gray stone out of his pocket. Clark's feelings became even more confusing, the hint of anxiety he felt was tinged by sadness and regret. "Yeah, I know why." He held the stone out to Clark, "Here, you should probably have this."

 

"Why would I want to? I can't touch that, it hurt when it'd been on my chest during that spell..."

 

"It won't hurt now."

 

Clark looked at Lex, even more confused.

 

"Don't you realize? The thirty days are up, Clark. The last day was today. You've met your part of the bargain and I didn't end up seducing you, which you had probably guessed had been my real goal behind manipulating you into our deal. Becoming friends again was just bullshit, because that wasn't what I really wanted..." 

 

"What did you really want?"

 

"It doesn't matter now." Lex held the stone out and turned it over in his hand.  "Can't you feel it? No fingers means that the spell has been broken." Lex again held out the stone for Clark.

 

He took it from Lex's fingers, it felt cool to him. Clark looked closer at the stone, the dried blood that had covered it before was gone. There was no pain. It was now just another stone.

 

"But the fingers have been gone for several days. I haven't felt them since I woke up..."

 

Lex shrugged and smirked, "I figured you wouldn't be up to doing my evil bidding until after you got better, but by then the thirty days would have been up anyway. Besides, you probably deserved a couple of days off for risking your life to save mine."

 

"I was only returning the favor since you'd risked yours to save mine." Clark looked up at Lex in confusion. "How'd you do break the spell? You talk to the witch?"

 

"No, I talked to a wizard and told him about what I remembered of the spell and what had happened since. He said the original spell the witch had cast over you was a more extensive binding spell than most. Our blood mixed together magically bound us both to the stone, but he said that magic can be canceled out by running water."

 

"Water?"

 

Lex nodded. "All I had to do was wash the blood off to break the spell..."

 

Clark looked up to Lex. He had an odd expression on his face, "That isn't all he told you, is it?"

 

"No, not all, but you're tired. I think you should lie down and I'll explain the rest."

 

Clark wobbled a bit as he stood, so he leaned on Lex as he took him back out to his bed and pulled back the covers. Clark looked at Lex warily. He sighed, "There will be no sex between us, Clark, unless you want it.  The stone has no power over you now so I can't force you to do anything." 

 

He crossed over to the windows and pulled open the drapes.   The early afternoon sun flooded the room with light and bathed the bed in golden, warm sunshine. "I'd take you back to the guest room, but this room has a better western exposure. You need sunlight and rest, Clark, not sex."

 

Clark sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes as he enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sunshine on his face. Desire flared up unexpectedly and he opened his eyes to look at Lex, whose eyes were dark with desire.

 

He was confused, no way should he feel desire with how tired he was, not without the fingers anyway.  "So why am I feeling what I'm feeling?"

 

Lex reached for Clark's glasses and pulled them off.  "I think you need more sun on your skin." Clark looked up at him, still confused, "I'll explain what the guy from Chicago told me while I get you undressed."

 

He knelt down at Clark's feet and untied his boots and pulled them off. He pulled off the heavy white socks Clark wore and then pull off Clark's shirt. He laid it on the bed. 

 

Clark surprised himself, but he just let Lex undress him. He was tired and his head hurt, but it felt good having someone take care of him.

 

"Before the witch performed her spell, she'd created a series of magic circles around you. So even before she closed the circles to contain you, and to focus the magic for the spell, there was a lot of power in the room. That's why it happened." Lex pulled off Clark's his t-shirt and spoke softly, "Lay down."

 

Tired, Clark obeyed. "What happened?"

 

Lex started to unbuckle Clark's belt. "You were asleep, so you wouldn't remember, but before she performed the main spell, I had to mix some of my blood with yours, both on the stone and on your forehead. A drop fell from my thumb into your mouth and you swallowed it. There was so much magic in the room you ingesting the blood became a spell all by itself. That's why I can sense what you're feeling and why you're confused now." He unzipped Clark's jeans and pushed them down. Clark lifted his hips so Lex could pull the his pants off, leaving him in just his blue cotton boxers. Lex picked up Clark's clothes and draped them across the back a nearby chair. 

 

"I don't understand, Lex..."

 

"The confusing feelings you're having aren't happening because they're your feelings, it's because they're mine."

 

Confused, Clark gaped at Lex. "What?"

 

"You're feeling what I'm feeling, but it's clearer now since you don't have the physical sensations from the stone spell added into the mix.   I didn't recognize that was what I was feeling until something bigger happened. When you were fighting to save all those people from the tsunami your emotions were so far apart from what I was feeling at the time that it was only then I finally figured it out. But the inexplicable desire I had been feeling wasn't a mystery anymore. I had been feeling your desire and I think you were also feeling mine."

 

Lex glanced over at the closet before he sat down on the bed next to Clark. "The elation you felt in there wasn't yours, it was mine. But it wasn't just elation, it was also pride and love. I was proud of how well my design for the closet had turned out, how perfect it was, elated how happy it made you, and feeling your joy at something I'd done just made me more in love with you than ever." Lex's gaze gently regarded him.  "You did feel love too, didn't you?"

 

Clark nodded, amazed. "Yeah, I did."

 

It made so much sense. The inexplicable desire, the confusing emotions... Clark didn't know what else to say.   He just looked at Lex as he looked back. He had a hard to read look on his face.

 

Lex looked down and fingered a wrinkle in the pristine sheet Clark laid on. "The wizard I talked to said that the spell the witch created to bond us to the stone was a perversion of a spell designed to help two lovers, two soul mates, bond more deeply. The magic forces she'd brought together to perform her spell were the right ones to take that spell further than she'd intended. However, he pointed out that the drop of blood did what it did only because he said that we're destined to be together. If it had been anyone else's blood, you swallowing that blood wouldn't have done a thing. It would have just been blood, instead of the key to a spell. You and I wouldn't be feeling what the other is going through if we weren't meant to be together."

 

It was as if everything had been explained and everything was as it should be. It made sense. 

 

It felt right.

 

Tired, Clark just nodded and yawned. He closed his eyes.

 

He felt loving amazement come from Lex. "You don't seem surprised."

 

"I'm not..." He looked up at Lex. "So what was it that you had originally wanted?"

 

Clark felt a wave of sadness come from Lex as he sighed, "I wanted you to stay for longer than just 30 days." He looked at Clark, Lex's eyes were hard to read, but he could feel the sadness along with a tinge of hope too. "I wanted you to stay for the rest of your life."

 

"I'll stay, if you still want me to."

 

"Of course I do, but I'm confused at why this seems so easy."

 

"Doing the right thing can sometimes be hard, but it also can be easy." He smiled. "Mom knew that I'd know what to do and she was right.   This, us together, me loving you... It just feels right."

 

Lex looked surprised and Clark realized he could feel it too, "Since when?"

 

Clark looked up into Lex's shimmering eyes, brimming with unshed tears. "Since it was clear that thing was out to kill you, I was so scared you were going to die. It was then that I finally knew that I love you, Lex."  A thought occurred to him and Clark looked up at Lex, confused. "Don't ever doubt that I love you, Lex... I do." His eyes drifted closed for a second, but snapped open when he felt Lex's body shift.  He looked up at Lex, worried he was going to leave, "Please stay while I sleep... I need to feel you next to me." 

 

Clark could feel the love radiating from Lex. "I know, Clark. I'll stay."

 

The other man kicked off his shoes and got into bed next to him. Lex leaned back on the pillows and pulled Clark into his arms. 

 

Clark mumbled, "...love you..."

 

He closed his eyes and Lex hugged him, "I love you so much, Clark."

 

Feeling Lex's love in addition to his own, wrapped in strong arms and bathed in golden sunshine, Clark peacefully slept.

 

 

~:::~

 

 

Lex held Clark as he slept and his body slowly got warmer. Superman was healing. 

 

He was always amazed by Clark's abilities. The speed of his recovery was astonishing.   Clark had almost died only five days ago and just a few hours ago had looked so pale and could barely stand upright, his skin still so cold. Yet, now his skin was again warm as he had healed almost magically before Lex's eyes, his skin closer now to its naturally golden light tan. 

 

The power the sun gave his body was almost a miracle. He gently kissed the top of Clark's head.

 

Lex felt contented in a way he couldn't remember ever feeling before. His eyes closed and he started to doze, close to falling asleep himself, when he heard a faint knock on the door. He looked over to see the door slowly open and Mercy lean in.

 

"Sir, you awake?"

 

He was too flush with love to be really angry, but he was still annoyed. "Yes, Mercy, I'm up..."

 

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Mr. Luthor, but I thought you'd want to know..." Her voice faltered as she apparently became uncertain that it had been a wise decision to interrupt his time with Clark. 

 

Lex was curious, Mercy knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want to be disturbed for anything right now unless it was really important. Intrigued, Lex asked quietly, "Know what?"

 

"We found the money, most of it anyway. The witch finally got careless."

 

Lex almost sat up and was about to push Clark off his shoulder. He had to act fast before she moved the funds again, but he thought maybe he didn't have to.   Just a few days ago he'd said to himself that the money didn't matter anymore. He leaned back against the headboard and Clark adjusted to the change in position in his sleep.

 

Mercy was amazed. "What are you waiting for, sir? You have to act quickly. She's gotten sloppy since she stopped her reign of terror. She finally made a mistake and we found it, so now you can take it back. "

 

He considered the money and the witch for a moment. 

 

He shouldn't let her get away with it, but she hadn't blackmailed anyone else since he'd bought Clark from her. She had essentially retired thanks to his money. She'd been so cruel, painfully torturing and humiliating men to extort money from them, she probably deserved to be killed so making her destitute was probably fitting. However, saving Clark from her had been the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had made her a deal, a promise...  

 

He shook his head. "No, I'll hold up my end of the deal. Clark would have been a bargain at a thousand times the price I'd paid her. He's priceless. Let her keep the money."

 

Lex looked over at Mercy and was surprised when she smiled, "Of course, sir." She started to leave, but paused and looked back at Lex. "I'm so happy for you sir."

 

She closed the door softly. After she left and Lex settled back down. Clark's weight shifted in his sleep in response to Lex's movement and he snuggled closer, his arm briefly tightening around Lex's waist. He mumbled softly in his sleep, something Kryptonian, and Lex felt a wave of love and happiness from the still sleeping Clark.

 

He hugged him tighter and caressed his tangle of curls. 

 

Lex fell asleep bathed in the golden light of late afternoon while holding the man that was the center of his world, more deeply in love with him than ever.

   
 

 

~:::~

[](http://www.statcounter.com/blogger/) 

[Read the Epilogue here](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/101920.html)...

 

 

 

~:::~  


	18. Superman for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   All is right in the world, Clark and Lex have their happy ending, but Lex feels the need to get their first kiss out of the way, Clark has a need to do more than just that, and Mrs. O'Hara has a need to feed her two dear lads.  (cover thanks to danceswithgary)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:**|   
accomplished  
---|---  
**Entry tags:**|   
[clex](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/clex), [fic](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [superman](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/superman), [supes for sale](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/tag/supes+for+sale)  
  
  
_**Superman for Sale - Epilogue**_

 

  


**Title: **Superman for Sale  
**Author: **D.M. Wyatt  
**Pairing: **Clark/Other (implied only in early chapters), Clark/Lex  
**Rating:** Mostly R, eventually NC-17  
**Warnings: **graphic descriptions of adult sexual content, future fic, post rift, mostly just humor and sex in this chapter  
**Spoilers: **None   
**Short summary:**  All is right in the world, Clark and Lex have their happy ending, but Lex feels the need to get their first kiss out of the way, Clark has a need to do more than just that, and Mrs. O'Hara has a need to feed her two dear lads.  (cover thanks to danceswithgary)

Special thanks go to [](http://ctbn60.livejournal.com/profile)[**ctbn60**](http://ctbn60.livejournal.com/) for her terrific suggestions as a Beta.  I'm not sure the ending would have worked quite as well without her suggestions. 

[One](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/11145.html) | [Two](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/13860.html) | [Three](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/18874.html) | [Four](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/21674.html) | [Five](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/55286.html) | [Six](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/58185.html) | [Seven](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/63238.html) | [Eight](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/71317.html) | [Nine](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/76397.html) | [Ten](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/81134.html) |   
[Eleven A](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84782.html) | [Eleven B](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/84654.html) | [Twelve](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/91742.html) | [Thirteen](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/92147.html) | [Fourteen](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/93967.html) | [Fifteen A](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/94434.html) | [Fifteen B](http://dm-wyatt.livejournal.com/94677.html)

 

~:::~  
 

Clark woke to a feeling of warmth. Lex's bedroom was dark, the only light coming from the Metropolis night. Lex had a lax arm wrapped around Clark in his sleep. He looked up at Lex from his vantage point where his head lay against Lex's shoulder.

 

He looked so young, the tired look he'd had before completely gone now. It reminded Clark of what Lex had looked like all those years ago when he'd first laid on the river bank after Clark had pulled him from the ruins of his Porsche. 

 

Clark wondered if it was because of the indirect light coming in through the windows that made him look so young.

 

Lex had changed into pajamas, not his normal silk ones, but a baggy cotton t-shirt and plaid flannel sleep pants. Clark frowned. Did Lex even own anything made of plaid?   He leaned back a bit so he could see more of Lex at the same time. He was surprised, the sleep pants and t-shirt were both his and Lex swam in them.

 

Apparently, Lex had gotten up at some point to change from his dress slacks and shirt, but Clark had been so out of it that Lex hadn't woken him at all. He was touched that Lex would wear his clothes to bed; it seemed familiar and very intimate.

 

Feeling loved and still tired, he yawned and settled back down against Lex's warm chest.

 

Clark could tell his powers were back full strength since the sounds of the sleeping city came to him without conscious effort, but he was still exhausted. He wanted to sleep, but then he felt, more than he heard, Lex waking up.

 

Lex's arms tightened around him as he gently kissed Clark's tangle of curls. "You up, Clark?"

 

Clark confined himself to a nod and returned the hug, his arm tightening around Lex's waist. 

 

"You've been asleep a long time."

 

Clark couldn't stifle a yawn, "Yeah, I do that when I need to recharge..."

 

Lex shifted a bit and one hand gently caressed his hair, "Oh, I see." 

 

Although he couldn't hear it in his voice, Clark could tell Lex was disappointed by something. Clark could feel it, the sensation of Lex's emotions were soft and felt like the sound of sigh. He leaned back to look at Lex, "You're disappointed about something. What?"

 

Lex shrugged, smiled, and replied quietly, "I was just hoping that when you woke up next we could get our first kiss out of the way."

 

Clark frowned and looked back on Lex, confused.

 

He could feel the sleepy amusement coming from Lex, "You do realize we haven't kissed yet, don't you?"

 

His eyebrows raised, "No, I guess we haven't."

 

Lex smirked and gently moved and Clark allowed it as his weight shifted under Lex's. He ended up on his back as Lex leaned over him. His blue eyes sparkled with the humor and affection Clark felt emanating from Lex, "I know you're busy getting better, but I was really hoping we could get this in between your bouts of sleeping like a log."

 

Clark smiled, "I think I can fit a kiss in..."

 

Leaning on one elbow, Lex gently cupped Clark's cheek with his free hand. Lex looked deeply into his eyes before he softly covered Clark's mouth with his own. The kiss was tender and loving and Clark could feel the love and true affection in it, emotions that perfectly reflected his own. 

 

The kiss was unlike any he'd ever felt before, the soft lips he'd always wanted to kiss were softer and more responsive than he had expected. Clark's mouth opened, inviting Lex's tongue in. Lex obliged, almost hesitantly, his tongue and lips slowly, and almost methodically, exploring Clark's. Their mouths twisted together and Clark could feel the sensations on his tongue and lips at the same time he felt the love.

 

Lex's love had become tangible, he could feel it on his skin and in his mouth. If he'd had to describe it, he wouldn't be able to, it was unlike anything else he'd ever felt. It was like tasting colors or seeing sound: Clark knew what it was, even though he had no frame of reference that would allow him to adequately describe it.

 

Despite his exhaustion, his skin sang and his tongue tingled and he felt the desire that had been denied so long flare up, unbidden and unexpected. His breath quickened as he felt the warmth of his want being reflected back to him by Lex's. It folded in on itself, echoed and doubled by Lex's need. He gently held Lex's head, feeling the smooth skin of his scalp, his surprisingly soft cheeks, as the kiss turned more insistent, hungrier. 

 

Clark felt a pang of regret come from Lex a moment before the kiss softened and slowed and Lex pulled away.   He looked up at Lex, confused, but he didn't need to voice his question, Lex knew what he was feeling.

 

"You look tired, you're still healing and your skin isn't quite back to its normal warm, golden glow...  We probably shouldn't take this any further."

 

Lex's eyes were dark, and his skin was flushed with desire. Even if he couldn't feel Lex's squashed desire trying to reassert itself, Clark could see it on his body. 

 

"Despite my powers being back, I am pretty tired," He smirked, "but I think it's safe to say that I'm not _too_ tired." 

 

Lex looked at him quizzically. "You sure?"

 

With a smile, Clark said, "Yeah."

 

Lex smiled in return and pulled off Clark's shirt that he wore. "Good." He sat up, leaning on one elbow, and traced fingers gently over Clark's bare chest, making Clark shiver slightly. "Is there something you had in mind?"

 

In spite of himself, Clark blushed. "I liked what you did that one time..."

 

Lex frowned, confused. "What time?"

 

Clark could feel Lex's bewilderment. "You know, when I was in City Hall and you had that very graphic daydream about me."

 

Lex laughed, "You liked that? You nearly scared Mercy to death, you were so angry."

 

"I'm sorry about that, but I was frustrated. I was so frustrated that I wanted it, but I couldn't do anything, couldn't stop it, couldn't participate."

 

"Why'd you like it then?"

 

"I don't know... but I did."

 

Lex sounded thoughtful, "Maybe it was because you couldn't do anything." Lex smirked, "I think I got rid of the stone too soon, magical ropes you can't break would come in really handy right now."  

 

Clark looked up at him, confused. "What?"

 

"I think we need to recreate the scene as much as we can, to see if I can improve on that... experience for you."

 

"I'm not sure how you're going to do that." Clark arched an eyebrow, "I was alone and sitting on the cold tile of the first floor men's room in City Hall with Lois guarding the door."

 

"I've got an idea, and I don't think we'll need Lois." Smiling, Lex took Clark's hands in his and placed them on the rungs of the headboard. "Hold onto those and don't let go." Clark obeyed and grasped the cool metal. Lex's hands moved down to his waist and pulled gently on the top of his boxers. He pushed his hips up high enough for Lex to slide his boxers off.

 

Once he was naked, Lex quickly slipped out of Clark's flannel sleep pants to reveal that he wore nothing underneath. Clark wanted to touch, to taste, and Lex could feel it because he shook his head.

 

"No, keep hanging on... I think you'll like this more than the last time."

 

Clark was skeptical, last time had been pretty damn good (even without Lex being in the same room), but he was interested enough to find out if Lex was right.

 

Lex shifted his weight and sat astride Clark's legs. He leaned forward, putting his hands down on either side of Clark's chest, and he kissed Clark so hard it would have bruised him if he'd been human. Lex was, so the kiss must be bruising him, but Clark's instinct to worry about that was overwhelmed by his need to keep feeling what Lex's kisses were doing to him.

 

He could taste Lex's need and love, it was heady and intoxicating. He wanted so badly to touch and taste. He held off, barely, but he could hear the metal of the headboard creaking under the stress of his grip.

 

Lex pulled away and his eyes glinted almost evilly.  "If I remember correctly, this was next."

 

His lips moved across Clark's chest and then moved down to his stomach. 

 

He could think of nothing except for the sensations of a tongue and lips tracing a line down his stomach, around his belly button, following the sprinkling of hair that led down.

 

The mouth that had been touching his stomach so tenderly before now kissed harder as Lex's free hand trailed up the inside of his thigh and his teeth nipped at him.  Breath hot on his stomach, light touches on his skin, Clark was so hard, it was actually painful.  He became desperate...

  

Lex's lips traced a line of kisses across his stomach to his hip as he felt Lex's fingers clench his ass.  Unable to do anything but feel what Lex was doing, he couldn't push Lex away, couldn't grab his hands, he arched his back up against Lex's mouth and fingers.

 

He suppressed a groan and wanted to ask Lex if he could let go of the head board, but his ability to form complete sentences had apparently left him.   "Lex...?" Clark felt the other man's tongue tracing a line down the curve of his hip to the juxtaposition of his hip bone and thigh. He barely held in a moan, "I need... I want..."

 

He could feel the amused desire rise in Lex as his lips and tongue traveled across the now seemingly vast distance from the top of Clark's thigh to his groin. When he felt hot breath over his groin, without trying to suppress it this time, Clark moaned.

 

Lex shifted his weight and knelt in between Clark's legs. He pushed them wider apart and leaned in to kiss the inside of his knee as a hand again pushed under Clark and squeezed his ass.

 

Frustrated, Clark cried out as Lex again teased him with hot breath on his skin. He didn't think he could have gotten any harder, but he felt like he was going to burst.

 

He could feel the amusement from Lex combined with the feelings of lust and love. "You like this, Clark?"

 

The only reply Clark could voice was a breathless, "Yes..."  

  

Lex's fingers started to caress him gently in between the cheeks of his ass. Clark gasped in shock and his back arched as he hissed with the pleasure of the overwhelming sensations.

 

He felt Lex's breath hot on the inside of his thigh, "Don't let go of the head board."

 

Clark couldn't trust his voice to speak, so he just nodded. Lex's fingers further explored the area around his opening and Clark panted.  He was so close...

 

_Sex couldn't get more perfect than this_, Clark thought in a brief moment of coherent thought....   He tried to say something, anything, but it turned into a long moan as his hips, without conscious thought, thrust up against Lex's hands.   Instead of easing his want, the pain of it, that actually made things worse.

 

Lex was trying to drive him crazy with need.

 

He groaned and crumpled the expensive modern headboard out of frustration. He managed to croak, "Lex... Please..."

  

Clark whimpered as one of the fingers that had been circling the opening to his body, pressed in. 

 

He was so hard, so close, he couldn't think. He could feel Lex's breath on his stomach as his lips moved down the inside his thigh, following the line of quivering muscles to the curls that surrounded his cock. He could feel Lex's hot breath on his skin as he kissed and nipped and licked.

 

Lex's finger tips trailed up Clark's length and his mind shifted as he gave up an inarticulate cry; incapable of forming coherent though, his body just feeling, it was all he could do... 

 

His world had become only the feel of fingers and lips and tongue on his skin.  Lex's fingers moved down and gently grasped the base of his shaft as his tongue traced a line up it, feeling warm and wet. 

 

Clark wanted to touch something other than cold twisted metal; squeeze Lex's shoulder, caress his bare head, but he writhed and moaned on the bed still clinging to the warped head board. In ecstasy, yet denied permission to touch, his breath became quick; his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he had trouble hearing anything else.

 

He was so close... Clark wished he could kiss Lex, taste his skin... Lex huskily whispered his name then Lex closed his mouth around him and swallowed, pushing down, taking in so much.  Clark's mind narrowed to only sensation and he was lost in it. 

 

He came with an explosion of ecstasy that centered on his groin and made the world melt away. 

 

Clark next became aware of something warm and wet gently rubbing against his skin, cleaning him.   Lex was licking his skin, his groin. With his eyes still closed, Clark reached out and touched Lex. 

 

He could feel the surprise before Lex spoke, "I told you to not let go..."

 

Clark opened his eyes and shook his head. He spoke in a deep, commanding, lusty growl, "No. I want to touch you."

 

Lex smirked at him as his blue eyes glittered. 

 

He crawled back up so his mouth was just above Clark's, his hands free to roam wherever he wanted them to. 

 

Clark's fingers, and eyes, couldn't stay off Lex's lips.   He touched them gently, reverently tracing the line of the scar on his lip, "I'm done holding onto cold metal; I want to feel you, hold you."

 

Clark couldn't keep his eyes off of Lex's face, so close to his. His beautiful blue eyes, dark pupils, full lips, complexion made rosy by exertion and desire. He felt the love and need so strongly, he hadn't needed to feel it reflected back at him by Lex but it was reflected back nonetheless.

 

Lex gazed at him with possibly the most loving look he'd ever given Clark. "You're so beautiful. I think I've always loved you and I was just too stubborn to see it... It seems so right now, so perfect."

 

Caught up in the emotion, Clark could only nod as he felt the love as it filled the bed, the room, the city, even the world. There wasn't enough room in the entire world to contain their love, their desire. He could taste, smell, and feel the love as if it was something soft and silky touching his skin.

 

Drunk with it, Lex kissed Clark gently, tenderly, as Clark gently held Lex close, his hands roaming over Lex's body. His smooth, nearly flawless skin, was so pale in the city lights coming in through the window.

 

Lex pulled back, apparently to ask a question, but Clark knew what he was going to ask even before he voiced the question. Speechless, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions and sensations he was feeling, Clark gave his assent without saying a word. He wasn't done yet because there was still more he wanted to feel.

 

Lex knew Clark wanted more, he could feel Lex's understanding as he smiled lovingly at Clark and pulled open the drawer of the dresser. He pulled out a tube and Clark spread his legs wider. Lex lovingly prepared himself and Clark, turning the somewhat practical act into one of love and adoration. Clark could almost hear the love and desire pouring out of Lex as it filled him with it. With each touch, each twist of his fingers; he loved Clark, worshipped Clark.

 

Done, Lex pressed first one, then two and then three fingers into Clark. He was lost to the smells, the tastes, the feelings of love that he felt from Lex. It was like a symphony of love and Clark was Lex's instrument...

 

He almost didn't feel the moment Lex pushed in because at the same moment his world spun into a maelstrom of color and sound and taste.   The cascade of feeling from each thrust built upon the previous one; Lex moving in him rose to a crescendo of sensation.

 

Clark came and came and came, it seemed to go on forever as he felt Lex's seed fill him. Lost in an oblivion of bliss, Clark next became aware of Lex as he gently cleaned him with a warm washcloth. 

 

He smiled up at Lex and Lex smiled back as he lay down next to Clark. 

 

"So, was that better than that time in City Hall?"

 

Tired, close to falling asleep, Clark laughed, "I don't know... It was probably pretty close."

 

Lex's blue eyes sparkled as he teased, "Well, we are just going to have to keep practicing until we get it right."

 

He leaned in to kiss him and Clark couldn't remember feeling a more loving kiss in his whole life. Clark pulled from the kiss and, sleepy, yawned.

 

Lex pulled something red from the covers bunched up at the foot of the bed and covered Clark with it. Clark frowned, it was one of his capes.

 

"My cape? And earlier you were wearing my flannel?"

 

"It felt good to have something of yours next to my skin."

 

"I thought you didn't like flannel."

 

Lex lay down next to Clark and pulled him close. Clark liked hearing Lex's voice through his chest, "When it's your flannel, I make an exception..."

 

"What about the cape? You didn't seem to like my uniform when this whole thing started."

 

"No, I've always liked the cape."

 

Clark's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Really?"

 

He chuckled, "Maybe I shouldn't admit to this, but I used to sneak into your apartment when you were out of town to play with the capes. I wanted to figure out how they attached to the suit, I never did figure out the exact mechanism..." Lex's tone got more serious as he hugged him and kissed the top of his head. "But when you were in the hospital, feeling the silky fabric next to my skin helped me miss you less."

 

He felt the truth of that, how much it had hurt Lex to stay away and stick to what he thought was right, but it Clark knew it had been the right thing. He felt the love and pain still inside Lex and looked up at him. "I know I don't need to say it anymore. I know that you can feel what I'm feeling, but I still want to speak the words. I need to say it, declare it." Clark smiled, "I love you, Lex."

 

Tears welled up in Lex's eyes. "I love you, Clark. So much..." 

 

Lex leaned closer and gave Clark possibly the tenderest kiss he'd ever gotten, the love coming off of the man leaning over him in gentle waves.

 

Feeling loved like he can't ever remember feeling before, Clark yawned. He snuggled closer to Lex, his dark curls on Lex's pale smooth chest. More than happy, content, but extremely drowsy, his eyes closed as his breathing started to slow and deepen.

 

Lex voiced the thought that Clark was losing the ability to speak himself, "I could get used to this." 

 

His only reply was a soft whisper of agreement. Unthinking, he'd voiced the thoughts in a language no one else spoke.

 

He could feel Lex smile into his hair, his breath warm and softly disturbing the curls, his voice echoing deep and resonant amusement in his chest under Clark's ear. "Was that Kryptonian? You're really going to have to teach me."

 

Clark smiled sleepily into the firm chest against his cheek, thinking Lex was right, and finally drifted asleep, a tranquil smile on his face.

 

~:::~

 

Lex woke early, the morning sunshine still faint this soon after dawn, surprised by some soft noise. He took stock, located Clark lying on his back, fast asleep next to him, his broad chest slowly rising and falling with each measured, deep breath. There was a rattle nearby. He turned toward the sound; it came from the direction of the hall.

 

Quickly covering Clark (and his cape) with the comforter, Lex hurriedly rearranged the scattered pillows against the headboard, hoping to cover the damage. Done, he looked to the doorway as someone slowly, and hesitantly, pushed it open. Mrs. O'Hara leaned in with a tray held in her hands. 

 

"You up, Mr. Luthor?"

 

Lex held up a finger to his lips, wishing Mrs. O'Hara would be quiet. He didn't want to wake Clark, so he whispered, "Yes, but Clark's still sleeping."

 

"Oh, the poor lad... I figured you two would be so hungry, so I took it upon myself to bring in some sustenance."

 

Quicker than Lex would have thought the woman was capable of, at her age and her heft, she quietly brought the tray to a small table over near the window. She placed it down and turned to Lex.

 

"I'm sorry to disturb you so early, but you and Mr. Kent had aught to eat for supper, I know you'd both be hungry, especially with him just coming home from hospital."

 

Lex looked at the tray, there were glasses of chilled juice, others of ice water and a thermos of coffee too... There were two covered plates and the warm smells of cinnamon and sugar and butter filled the room. 

 

He sat up, interested as his stomach suddenly rumbled with hunger. He whispered, "That smells wonderful, Mrs. O'Hara.  What'd you make?"

 

"It's a new recipe I found, cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. The pastry is light and melts in your mouth... I think even you, who hates sweets, will like it. Mr. Kent seems to have more of a sweet tooth, so I imagine he'll love it."

 

Lex smiled affectionately in Clark's direction. "I imagine you're right."

 

Clark, mildly disturbed in some way, rolled over in his sleep and found Lex. Still asleep, he easily pulled him across the bed and into his arms. Lex looked up at Mrs. O'Hara, but she was fussing with the tray and hadn't noticed. 

 

She looked up as she straightened the silverware. She smiled. "Now, isn't that a pretty picture. You two look adorable together, if you don't mind me saying so..."

 

Lex couldn't help but smile. He settled back into the pillow as Clark's arm tightened momentarily and he snuggled closer to Lex in his sleep.    "I don't mind you saying so at all, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

"He's just been the thing you needed, Mr. Luthor..." Choked up, she took out a handkerchief from the pocket of her apron and turned back to the tray, trying to discreetly dab at her eyes. "These will keep until you two are more awake, but if you need the rolls warmed they'll heat up nicely in the microwave too. I can heat them up for you later, if you have a need..."

 

Lex thought that Clark could take care of that in his own way when he woke, "I'm sure we'll manage, but he should just sleep now."

 

"Oh, right you are. I'll just be on my way, then. I'll fix something more filling for lunch, lots of protein and iron to help shore up his strength. Would himself be up to eating a cheeseburger, do you think?"

 

He smiled at the thought and replied softly, "I don't think Clark would ever turn down a cheeseburger..."

 

"Good, I'll be off to market then to get them to grind some sirloin for me. He's such a big lad, in fact he looks far bigger without wearing one of those baggy suits he favors. I'll be sure to make him two." She turned to leave, but just then Clark sighed in his sleep. She looked at Clark and then a look of recognition passed over her face. "You know, he reminds me of someone... Without his glasses he looks almost like—"

 

Lex interrupted in a stern tone, "Thank you for the tray, but I think that will be all, Mrs. O'Hara."

 

She blushed, "Of course, Mr. Luthor. Of course." She quickly went to the door and turned to look back at Lex, a single simple gold band glinted on her finger as it caught the light.  

 

Lex's eyes were drawn to the golden light sparkling in the early morning sun as she continued, "I'm so happy you both kissed and made up, I'm sorry it took a giant killer robotic spider and himself spending several days in hospital to make you both to see the light. You should have listened to me and spared yourselves, but still, I'm glad." Her eyes again welled up with tears, "It warms my heart."

 

She smiled at him affectionately and softly closed the door. Lex could hear her happily humming a tune as she walked away.

 

He leaned back and hugged Clark to his chest. Clark mumbled again, something in English this time, and his left arm curled up toward his mouth, across Lex's body, as his breath deepened and slowed back into deeper sleep. 

 

Lex looked down at the hand that lay on his chest. He gently picked up Clark's hand and held it.

 

The skin of Clark's hand was amazingly smooth, more so than Lex thought he'd ever felt in a man before. Even men he knew who were spoiled-rotten trust fund babies and had never worked a day in their lives didn't have hands as smooth. Clark's skin, invulnerable and completely callous free, was literally as soft as a baby's. 

 

Lex tenderly held his hand and looked at it closely as he gently caressed the fingers with his thumb. Clark's hand seemed naked compared to chubby Mrs. O'Hara's... He thought of the sort of ring that he'd like to see grace it as he brought it up to his lips and gently kissed Clark's empty ring finger.

 

The kiss so carefully placed onto Clark's finger as he softly whispered, "I love you," became a proclamation, a promise, a pledge, an oath. Lex would see Clark dressed in a sharp tux with a white rose in his lapel and a warm smile and a blush on his gorgeous face as they stood in church and vowed to share their lives together forever... 

 

As he held Clark's hand, Lex tried to gauge his ring size so he could go shopping as soon as Clark went back to work. He had to wait until then since Lex wanted the ring to be a surprise. He wanted to give it to Clark after a special dinner made by Mrs. O'Hara here at home sitting by a crackling fire as the sun set, as the warm fading light sparkled in Clark's beautiful eyes.

 

Smiling at the plan, Lex gently kissed the top of Clark's head as he felt Clark rouse a bit. He mumbled something softly in Kryptonian and Lex knew that he had said 'I love you' even without understanding the words.  Clark's breathing slowed and deepened back into sleep.

 

With too many thoughts in his head, so many things he needed to plan, Lex was unable to sleep himself. His mind went off into a thousand different directions as Lex basked in the love that, even as he slept, emanated from Clark's very being. 

 

Feeling loved and contented, Lex leaned back and gently caressed Clark's soft curls as he schemed entirely different, and happier, sorts of schemes than he had ever before.

 

 

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The End

~:::~  
  


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